Gervinho was good at Arsenal, it was just his final ball. Maybe being coached by the same manager at Lille has helped him at Roma?
There's not much else of any note, is there ?
Underwhelming by his standards I mean. He certainly wasn't as dominant as he showed before imo, completely disappeared in the quarters too.
Plenty of great players have emerged from those other leagues, they deserve a little bit more respect but we're talking about Italy, not some dark corner of Europe.
Exactly, to reduce it to a simple League A > League B as to why this or that player fail is too simplistic.
That because you are being selective though.
Buying any 21/22 year old for nearly a record £80m is clearly not risk free, regardless of talent.
Balotelli? Every man and his dog called that a huge gamble when he signed for Man City let alone Liverpool. Completely different scenario.
So there is no risk that Pogba arrives at United after his £80m transfer and thinks he is bulletproof and will get into the team without lifting a finger?
Yeah he might be hit by a bus or contract Ebola. Sorry, hadn't thought it through.
Yes I know that plenty of European countries produce plenty of great players but a lot leave for the big three.
How facetious.
I suppose every player comes with a risk factor though
Yes but it doesn't give a full picture of how a player performing in a certain weak league would perform in Europe's best. My point is that, just because he is doing it in Italy doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to do in England or Spain.
I think you take things a little too literally. We're talking of a football transfer, it doesn't need to be said that there are obvious risks. As far as big money transfers on top talents go though, putting £80m on Pogba's is as safe a bet as you'll get.
Yes, thats my point. Pexbo said he was risk free.
I said he's a banker. Jesus, chill out man. You're like a fecking lawyer or something.
Nope, you said it mate.
You said its risk free. It isnt, admit it and stop calling names.
Reign it in a bit please mate.
It's just an obvious question I suppose, I've personally not seen to much of him, even at the WC.
Sorry, I said its risk free. You got me. Apologies if you took it literally and not figuratively.
That's more like it. Temp ban for pexbo as a proper show of repentance?
Sorry for thinking you meant risk free when you said risk free.
Doubt it, it's absolutely impossible for any insurance to calculate that risk and come up with a reasonable fee.
Really? You don't just run a few stats, get an independent medical done, and come up with something sensible? It seems no trickier to me than insuring other things.
The number of cases would be incredibly small for a start, therefore variance becomes a huge huge problem. If you insure thousands of 50m transfers, it's less of a problem obviously, but if you insure 3 or 4 cases, it becomes a game of luck, nothing more. Also, there are too many uncontrollable factors involved when it comes to injuries in professional sports.
Im not sure that transfer values are usually insured but wages (or at least a hefty chunk of them) typically are which is not all that different to any sickness at work policy other than the numbers are eye wateringly high and there are more risk factors so it would be fairly specialist underwriting required - though that said the insurance company would re insure their loss with one of the major re-insurers (who in turn is probably reinsured to some extent through other major re insurers... and so the world of finance turns on and on and on with ever greater aggregation of risk)
Fair enough. Your guess sounds more informed than mine.
I hate the world.
Agree 80m is bonkers for a player who is not a game changer! Albeit a good player, I'd rather we spent that on Bale if we had to.It's just an obvious question I suppose, I've personally not seen to much of him, even at the WC.
It's been seen time and again that players who look stand out in other leagues cone here and suffer from big fish in a small pond disease.
I'm not making any judgements on Pogba though because as stated I've not seen enough.
80 million though
Agreed. Letting him go then was a huge blunder. Midfield has been a achilles heel for years now, and with him aboard, we would massivley improve.
Paul Pogba: I still love Manchester United but they never gave me a chance
French midfielder left United for £800,000 without starting a match - but is now a world star who United would need £50m to re-sign
Paul Pogba during a rare moment of first team action at Manchester United Photo: REUTERS
By Telegraph Sport
2:49PM GMT 14 Jan 2015
Comment
Paul Pogba has revealed why he left Manchester United but insisted he still loves the club and will never "speak ill" of them.
The French midfielder left Old Trafford in 2012 after failing to start a first-team match in England. He joined Juventus for around £800,000, since when he has become one of the most highly-rated midfielders in world football, with a price tag in excess of £50million.
He has previous spoken of being "disgusted" at his treatment by Sir Alex Ferguson, but in an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, he said his relationship with his former club had not been damaged.
Pogba, who shares an agent with widely-travelled Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli, has been linked with several leading English clubs, including United themselves, Manchester City and Chelsea, although there seems no prospect of him moving in the January transfer window.
"I'm impatient," Pogba, 21, told FourFourTwo. 'It was the feeling I had. The coach (Ferguson) had faith in me but didn't put me on. He said that I was too young.
"He said 'your time will come' but it never did. It didn't come. But it does not mean I will speak ill of Manchester United. I love the club."
In an earlier interview, Pogba had said the final straw at United had come when Ferguson picked full-back Rafael ahead of him in midfield.
Pogba said: "It was a very, very difficult moment for me because I was in love with Manchester and I was a Mancunian.
"It was the match against Blackburn in December 2011 at Old Trafford.
"Paul Scholes had retired, Darren Fletcher was injured. There was no one left to play in midfield. And I was training and I was beginning to get better bit by bit and the coach never stopped telling me, 'You're this far'.
"And I didn't understand. This far away from what? Playing? From having some playing time? From getting on the field? Or what?
"And there was Rafael in midfield and I was disgusted. I was disgusted and I didn't get on either."
