Manchester United submitted a second bid for Paul Pogba in the region of €120 million after their first offer was rejected, but it appears Serie A champions Juventus are holding out for more money for the Frenchman.
Juventus are reportedly asking for an improved bid from Manchester United despite the Red Devils’ world record offer of €120 million for Paul Pogba. The Old Lady is seeking at least an additional €10 million from United if they are to even contemplate the sale of their star midfielder. The Italians have also confirmed that a potential €95 million capture of Gonzalo Higuain is no indication that they will be forced to sell the Frenchman.
Manchester United had an earlier bid of €100 million rejected and responded with an improved €120 million bid recently in an attempt to entice Juventus into loosening their hold on Paul Pogba. According to the Guardian, agent terms have been agreed and even the player is keen on a switch to Old Trafford, but it is now up to Juventus to come to an agreement over the fee.
If the transfer does take place, Pogba would earn a basic salary of about £11 million a year while also retaining sponsorship and image rights. The 23-year-old, who is contracted to the Bianconeri until the end of the 2018-19 season, is currently on holiday after going all the way to the Euro 2016 final with France earlier this summer.
Is Pogba worth such a huge transfer fee?
Manchester United have completed a few high profile signings in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer to go with their capture of Eric Bailly from Villarreal. And in their bid to land Paul Pogba, the Old Trafford club are prepared to cough up a transfer fee well in excess of a €120 million that would make him the most expensive player in history by some distance.
However, the Red Devils’ pursuit of the French midfielder has invited considerable amount of debate on whether the 23-year-old is worth the gargantuan amount of money the English heavyweights are throwing for him. Club legend Paul Scholes shared his opinion on the matter recently, stating that Pogba isn’t worth that much money just yet.
Scholes spoke to SportWitness and was quoted as saying, “I just don’t think he is worth £86m. For that sort of money, you want someone who is going to score 50 goals a season like Ronaldo or Messi. Pogba is nowhere near there yet.”
For all of United’s problems, the club can comfortably afford to pay what Juve are asking for Pogba. Also, the Frenchman’s marketability is such that Man Utd’s global brand will only be enhanced with the signing of Pogba — a mutually beneficial relationship from a commercial and financial point of view for both player and club.
Whether the transfer fee is justified or not would be inconsequential if Pogba could come to Old Trafford and engineer a famous Premier League triumph under new boss Jose Mourinho. So while it is a sizeable investment United are making on a player they released for free, it may be worth it considering their current scenario in the Premier League and their deficiencies in midfield.
Media hype or agent drama?
The Pogba transfer saga has been rumbling on all summer and there are no signs of the hype and speculation dying down anytime soon. In the latest twist, Mino Raiola took to Twitter to respond to the numerous reports that claimed he had agreed personal terms with United, indicating that a deal was far from complete in Pogba’s potential transfer.
There is no deal done regarding Paul Pogba, lots of bla bla bla.
— Mino Raiola (@MinoRaiola) July 21, 2016
It throws light on the immense media hype surrounding Pogba’s future and there now appears the realistic possibility of the transfer not happening at all despite claims that the player had sealed his switch to Old Trafford.
On the contrary, such a rare public statement from the agent regarding the status of negotiations between him and the two clubs can be viewed as a ploy to get United to stump up their agent fees as well. It has happened in the past and there is no reason Raiola wouldn’t want to cash in on the transfer of his most illustrious client. The reported figure United are prepared to pay the agent at the moment is 20% of Pogba’s transfer fee, which in itself stands at a mammoth €24 million.
