Paul Pogba | Undergoing Medical | Helping out the Laundry Ladies

[kafta]

I get comparing Pogba to Koke, but to compare him to Saul is absurd. Saul has had one good season, he was playing CB last year, and he would cost upward of 65 million too.

Pogba has been starting for Juventus for four years, and to be honest he has been fantastic for them. I doubt anyone comparing him Saul has seen him enough.

The one midfielder i'd take ahead of him, from his age group, is Veratti and he's not available, and quite honestly plays a different role.

Pogba would be perfect for us and suited to the PL. He's been overrated at times, but severely underrated on here as well.

 

[VP89]

I would say most of our recent signings have been successful TBH. Only Darmian/Memphis haven't quite lived up to it yet, and even they have plenty of potential to overcome that.

Di Maria, Falcao.

Bringing it back to how this relates to Pogba, he may well be worth the money spent. But I don't think the argument "Glazers/Woody know best because this guy must be marketable too" really holds.

Di Maria? Outstanding player and not their fault that he had a bad attitude. By your logics we shouldn't have bought Martial. Well thank god you are not in charge then.

Bad attitude? Christ. He was played in the wrong position most the season, had injuries and never settled after the robbery. By my logic 40m on Martial was toppy but never as laughable as the prices thrown around for Pogba.

 

[GJNJ]

Is it really that hard to think about the price/quality ratio?
As you said it's a business.

Your business can buy a machine for 200k that gets you 50 pieces/min and another for 400k that produces 55 pcs/min.
So it's all a matter of longetivity and cost/pcs to evaluate if the better machine is actually the better choice.

You always gamble when you buy a player. Pogba is a wonderful talent but not a surefire Ballon d'Or winner. No one can say that in 2 years time, Pogba is clearly better than Koke/etc.
So I agree with the guys saying a billionaire should buy the ferrari, especially if his garage is limited to only 11 vehicles.
But you don't exactly know if Pogba is the Ferrari, so you have to set a price for that.

I want Pogba for 100M but I don't want him for 200M, simple as that.

Yes we currently already have the 200k model, it's alright but it doesn't produce enough pieces for our needs in the English market let alone in Europe mainly because it is slow and and doesn't pass forward.

 

[Adam-Utd]

But the question is are we investing correctly? Spending a ton of money doesn't mean that we are doing a good job.

PS: I'm just playing the devil advocate.

Honestly, do you think Pogba will fail? I think he will be an absolute star. It's not like he isn't used to England either, he will be ready for the challenge. He won't have too much pressure on him either as people like Ibra will take that on their shoulders IMO.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Di Maria, Falcao.

Bringing it back to how this relates to Pogba, he may well be worth the money spent. But I don't think the argument "Glazers/Woody know best because this guy must be marketable too" really holds.



Bad attitude? Christ. He was played in the wrong position most the season, had injuries and never settled after the robbery. By my logic 40m on Martial was toppy but never as laughable as the prices thrown around for Pogba.

Di Maria was arguably LVG's fault. I think if he had a manager that knew how to use him he would be fine. Having the most assists in our team is hardly failing considering how many times he was benched. Good player in a crap team.

Falcao is rubbish, his time at Chelsea proved that too, nobody was to know how bad he would be. Hardly blame Woodward for that.

 

[swissgenius]

For the people that are worrying about the price of Pogba;

Failing to invest correctly in our squad cost us the CL spot. That alone is valued circa £60-80m. If we buy Pogba and he gets us the extra points we required, he's basically paid for it himself.

You see the problem there? The "if"..
If Pogba makes the difference of finishing 5th to challenge for title, everyone would happily take that 125M fee.
But that's pure speculation on your part. We paid good bucks for Di Maria that didn't get us anywhere. You would have laughed at people wanting to spend half that and rather buy Payet or whoever.

It's easy to say Ronnie was worth the big fee but for every Ronaldo/Ferdinand there is a Torres/Di Maria..

 

[JPRouve]

I get comparing Pogba to Koke, but to compare him to Saul is absurd. Saul has had one good season, he was playing CB last year, and he would cost upward of 65 million too.

Pogba has been starting for Juventus for four years, and to be honest he has been fantastic for them. I doubt anyone comparing him Saul has seen him enough.

The one midfielder i'd take ahead of him, from his age group, is Veratti and he's not available, and quite honestly plays a different role.

Pogba would be perfect for us and suited to the PL. He's been overrated at times, but severely underrated on here as well.

Saul wasn't playing CB last season, he was in midfield.

 

[sunama]

He is a fantastic footballer and just what we need . The price is ridiculous but that's football today

I think the price is getting a bit too high.

 

[Striker10]

But the question is are we investing correctly? Spending a ton of money doesn't mean that we are doing a good job.

PS: I'm just playing the devil advocate.

I think so. I think someone made an incredibly stupid choice hiring Moyes after Sir Alex retired. I think we need to show pulling power. You see so many people freaking out and talking about players leaving...they've lost confidence in the direction of the club. We've talked of value in the market for a long time and that's cost us and as a result we're playing catch up. We've heard from Rio - who said the players were shocked when Pogba left. Suddenly people go - what is happening? What direction are we going in?

We have to address the mentality of the team/squad and this will help. Every transfer can fail. The Madrid fans sometimes booed the Brazilian Ronaldo...But this summer so far has been positive. A statement isn't just what you tell everyone else - it's also what you tell yourself. I feel Moyes and LVG killed the spirit and the mentality of the group. If we get him, this will breath new life into some of the players. We could go for others but people forget it's not just supporters that are muppets. We might NOT win the league - we'll have to wait and see, but if we show the right attitude on the field, we should certainly qualify for the CL.

 

[podurban2]

Bad attitude? Christ. He was played in the wrong position most the season, had injuries and never settled after the robbery. By my logic 40m on Martial was toppy but never as laughable as the prices thrown around for Pogba.

Well be as stringent as you want. I trust the manager and the people in charge, they are more competent about this stuff than both you and me (despite what you claim). I think most either are looking forward to this signing while others are worried to get stick by their mates for the fee, because just getting annoyed by a large number seems quite unlikely to me, or at least it's very weird.

 

[kafta]

Saul wasn't playing CB last season, he was in midfield.

Yeah i guess it was the season before last, when he was on loan at Vallecano.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

You see the problem there? The "if"..
If Pogba makes the difference of finishing 5th to challenge for title, everyone would happily take that 125M fee.
But that's pure speculation on your part. We paid good bucks for Di Maria that didn't get us anywhere. You would have laughed at people wanting to spend half that and rather buy Payet or whoever.

It's easy to say Ronnie was worth the big fee but for every Ronaldo/Ferdinand there is a Torres/Di Maria..

There'd still be an "if" if you bought Messi. The fact is Mourinho has identified Pogba as the player he needs to challenge for the title.

 

[JPRouve]

Yeah i guess it was the season before last, when he was on loan at Vallecano.

He was playing in midfield too. We know that Saul can play in central defense, he did it against Barcelona after 2 red cards but he never starts there.

 

[Boznich]

And Woodward & the Glazers have a fantastic track record of getting big money signings right, don't they.

I would say that is more to do with the manager than the board however the Glazers and Woodward do have a great track record of making a shed load of money year after year this wouldn't happen if it wasn't financially viable

 

[Dracula]

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Saw this guy linked on the MEN site. May just be yet another crummy itk

That Mack The Knife guy is another crummy itk, he gets a lot right, but it's generally stuff thats very obvious and will call it late in the day, like us sacking Moyes, hiring Jose or signing Pogba.

He's a poster on the RI subscription forum. He posts these as a joke to wind people up. As a well known poster on that forum he cant post any of the information they get as its understandably for paying members only, however, there was one thing he put up recently that was supposed to be a wind up but was (unbeknownst to him) actually true. No doubt when the pogba story ends he'll point to that to say 'told you so)

 

[Mark McMaw]

Got a feeling we'll all get a answer soon either way.

 

[Adam-Utd]

I like Saul, but I think Pogba is better. For me the price is irrevelant, we have cash to spend so why not go for the best?

Saul seems just as happy in Spain and at Atletico, so it wouldn't be any easier to sign him IMO. We know Pogba will be happy in Manchester, he lived here for 3/4 years. He is Adidas' poster boy and will become our main household name once Rooney moves along.

 

[Pexbo]

Got a feeling we'll all get a answer soon either way.

Because "time".

 

[Judas]

He's a poster on the RI subscription forum. He posts these as a joke to wind people up. As a well known poster on that forum he cant post any of the information they get as its understandably for paying members only, however, there was one thing he put up recently that was supposed to be a wind up but was (unbeknownst to him) actually true. No doubt when the pogba story ends he'll point to that to say 'told you so)

Oh really? Had no idea about any of that. Thanks.

 

[kafta]

He was playing in midfield too. We know that Saul can play in central defense, he did it against Barcelona after 2 red cards but he never starts there.

Thanks, guess i was mistaken then. He looks like a fantastic player, but i'd take Pogba ahead of him, even at the quoted price. I guess we will see in time if the investment was well placed or not.

 

[Summit]

He's a poster on the RI subscription forum. He posts these as a joke to wind people up. As a well known poster on that forum he cant post any of the information they get as its understandably for paying members only, however, there was one thing he put up recently that was supposed to be a wind up but was (unbeknownst to him) actually true. No doubt when the pogba story ends he'll point to that to say 'told you so)

How was it unbeknown to him if he posts on RI?

 

[JPRouve]

Honestly, do you think Pogba will fail? I think he will be an absolute star. It's not like he isn't used to England either, he will be ready for the challenge. He won't have too much pressure on him either as people like Ibra will take that on their shoulders IMO.

I want Pogba the player because I like him but I would have spent the 100m on Sané and Krychowiak, obviously now it's too late. I know that for the caf 4 very attacking players isn't enough but I disagree.

 

[Dracula]

How was it unbeknown to him if he posts on RI?

Cant remember exactly but he posted something then a few hours later it emerged it might actually be true. Cant remember what it was.

I think he does actually have some contacts in utd but its not really transfer related. His twitter account is purely a wind up

 

[RooneyLegend]

Did you not just sell Vidal last summer as an example, the first thing Juventus did when I first started watching was sell Baggio your national hero to Milan lol, then you had Vieri and sold him off, Inzaghi sold him off, brought in Ibrahimovic, then sold him off etc etc, Zidane? I really don't fancy going back over the last 20 years to pick out more honestly..
You've had like 4-5 untouchables, Del Piero, Nedved and Buffon among them but lets be real, most players at Juve have a price the directors will sell for.

That's like saying that United are a selling club cause we sold Ronaldo, Beckham, RVN, and Veron over the years. Every situation has a unique reason for happening.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Cant remember exactly but he posted something then a few hours later it emerged it might actually be true. Cant remember what it was.

I think he does actually have some contacts in utd but its not really transfer related. His twitter account is purely a wind up

Yeah I used to be on RI and found it so odd.

He'd go on every day and moan about people obsessed with transfers. Yet he's a 40 year old man with kids who spends his days making crap up on twitter.

I know which I find sadder.

 

[P-Nut]

That's a good point, it's probably why Mourinho values him so highly as well. He seems very suited to the PL as well, and obviously has familiarity with England. Bah, you're re-igniting my Pogba muppet now.

Your welcome

 

[VP89]

Di Maria was arguably LVG's fault. I think if he had a manager that knew how to use him he would be fine. Having the most assists in our team is hardly failing considering how many times he was benched. Good player in a crap team.

Falcao is rubbish, his time at Chelsea proved that too, nobody was to know how bad he would be. Hardly blame Woodward for that.

I'm not blaming anyone though. Transfers can go wrong, and these did go wrong, rightly or wrongly. Woody & co. need to value the risk of spending double that on one player whilst noting how big transfers can fail seemingly easily in their back garden.

Well be as stringent as you want. I trust the manager and the people in charge, they are more competent about this stuff than both you and me (despite what you claim). I think most either are looking forward to this signing while others are worried to get stick by their mates for the fee, because just getting annoyed by a large number seems quite unlikely to me, or at least it's very weird.

This would suggest we shouldn't question transfers or fees made by any club, when really we are free to hold our own opinions. If I think Saul for 70m + Matuidi for 25m is better than 100m+ on Pogba, there is decent reasoning behind it and its fair to discuss on a forum.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Don't know if anybody has suggested this, but I wonder if there's any possibility that we've basically got it tied up and we're waiting for the pound to recover a bit. It's already pulled up from last week's 5-year-low levels, and it could easily drift back towards its pre-brexit levels over the next few weeks, while it's unlikely to fall more barring anything very unexpected.

Sounds a bit silly, but at the prices being quoted, it's a lot of money. €125m went from being £95m in the run-up to the referendum (and only £88m last November!) to being over £107m last week. £12m is not to be sniffed at, even for United.

A lot less silly than most of the speculation in here. Although I'm fairly sure someone earlier on said there was a way to hedge against currency fluctuations in big money deals like this. Some finance-y type of bloke. @Jippy, maybe?

 

[AndyJ1985]

I'm not blaming anyone though. Transfers can go wrong, and these did go wrong, rightly or wrongly. Woody & co. need to value the risk of spending double that on one player whilst noting how big transfers can fail seemingly easily in their back garden.

I can promise you they've analysed the financial risks involved in a £100m transfer in far greater detail than anyone on this forum.

 

[baanke laal]

Went to bed last night about 1.30 am after a spike in optimism following some Italian media reports.

Things seemed to have 'settled down' again since then.

I don't think anything new would come out of Italy until it's 9 PM over there, that's when they generally break the new stories. English tabloids & journos would take a lot of mileage out of last night's stories till that time.

 

[VP89]

I can promise you they've analysed the financial risks involved in a £100m transfer in far greater detail than anyone on this forum.

Maybe it should be a rule for no fan to question club fees then

 

[djdhrubs]

Right, I'm not disputing that. If you have the money, spend it.

Still mind boggling for a player that doesn't dominate games consistently or score 30, 40, or 50 goals. I know you're partly paying for what he can become rather than what he is now, but you could get 2, 3, or 4 world class players for this amount.

Again, it's all relative. If we wanted to buy a player who currently scores 50 goals per season and was easily available, we'd probably bid even more than we're rumoured to be doing for Pogba. Why? Because we can, and the money men have done their maths.

It doesn't really matter that we'd be paying more than any other club would for the same player. If we are earning several orders of magnitude more money than those clubs are, it still makes financial sense, according to the money men.

And if the transfer goes wrong, we'll just get someone else the following window. And again. And again. Until it goes right.

Don't get me wrong, I totally agree it's ludicrous to the likes of you and me to wrap our heads around these figures, especially when we might see budget successes like Kante (when he went to Leicester), Mahrez and Payet. But United can simply afford this easily wthout any long term consequence.

If you buy some bog roll for 50p, and I buy the same bog roll for £2, it's silly. But if I'm earning 20 x as much as you are, I won't really care that I've paid 4 x as much as you for the same thing. I won't even care if you're laughing at me for spending that much, because one glance at my bank account and I'll feel better.

 

[Infra-red]

Of course its relevant. We may be a rich club but this isn't Championship Manager.

The only relevant question for us (the fans) is whether or not the player is good enough. It's not our money, why on earth would we care about the fee. It's a complete nonsense.

 

[Infra-red]

Maybe it should be a rule for no fan to question club fees then

A rule? No. The application of commonsense, yes. It does not matter.

 

[AndyJ1985]

Maybe it should be a rule for no fan to question club fees then

You can question whatever you like, I don't really care. But when it comes to our finances and what we can/can't spend, and the risk involved, you don't know better than Ed Woodward and the Glazers.

 

[jungledrums]

So it's confirmed that Raiola is in Manchester, is it?

 

[prath92]

Bad attitude? Christ. He was played in the wrong position most the season, had injuries and never settled after the robbery. By my logic 40m on Martial was toppy but never as laughable as the prices thrown around for Pogba.

He wasn't played out of position a lot. That's a myth. He almost always played either as an AM or as a winger and maybe a game or 2 as a striker.

 

[djdhrubs]

Don't know if anybody has suggested this, but I wonder if there's any possibility that we've basically got it tied up and we're waiting for the pound to recover a bit. It's already pulled up from last week's 5-year-low levels, and it could easily drift back towards its pre-brexit levels over the next few weeks, while it's unlikely to fall more barring anything very unexpected.

Sounds a bit silly, but at the prices being quoted, it's a lot of money. €125m went from being £95m in the run-up to the referendum (and only £88m last November!) to being over £107m last week. £12m is not to be sniffed at, even for United.

I don't think this is a consideration. Don't United have Euros in the bank, i.e separate to pounds and dollars? Thought I read that somewhere so we insulate ourselves against currency fluctuations like these.

Delaying the deal whilst we potentially wait for the pound to recover means the risk of another club swooping in and stealing him goes up. Can't see this being the case.

 

[Werder Herzog]

The subscribed bit of RI- is there anyone on there with any actual proper info or is it all Wummers?

 

[VP89]

The only relevant question for us (the fans) is whether or not the player is good enough. It's not our money, why on earth would we care about the fee. It's a complete nonsense.

There are many factors affecting the club that the supporters might not know of. From FFP and other regulations, to wage bills & colleague expectations when renewals come around, and so on. I'm not saying no to spending £100m. I'm just questioning whether that money can be better used elsewhere, and I think it can.

You can question whatever you like, I don't really care. But when it comes to our finances and what we can/can't spend, and the risk involved, you don't know better than Ed Woodward and the Glazers.

Not sure why you quoted me and discussed in the first place then.

He wasn't played out of position a lot. That's a myth. He almost always played either as an AM or as a winger and maybe a game or 2 as a striker.

He played in CM, LW, False 9 and RW. That's 4 positions he was consistently thrown around in, amongst 2 month lay offs in injuries and having to live from a hotel for most the season. For you to just assume its "bad attitude" is ill-informed, lets just leave it there.

A rule? No. The application of commonsense, yes. It does not matter.

Right, so its common sense not to question the risks of signing a player for over £100m off the back of an inconsistent season by his own standards