Italian legend and former Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo, believes that Paul Pogba is worth a world record fee from teams looking to acquire the Frenchman’s services, should Pogba decide to leave the Serie A champions.
Pirlo, who had shared the midfield with the French International for three years before leaving for Major League Soccer, claims that Pogba could become the world’s most expensive player, surpassing the record amount of £85.3m that Real Madrid reportedly paid for Gareth Bale in 2013.
Although Pirlo agrees that Juventus would want to keep their man, a world record fee could very well sway the Old Lady’s board into selling Pogba.
“Of course, Juventus will want to keep him,” Pirlo told the Daily Mirror. “But sometimes you can get to a transfer fee that you can rebuild an entire team with and he would get to that fee”
“At his age, you can build a team around him for the next years. If he does decide to leave, then I think it will be for a world record.”
“I have played with some great young players, but Pogba was the best young player I have ever seen,” he added.
Pogba carrying the Juve torch after Pirlo
The departure of Andrea Pirlo left a hole in the Old Lady’s midfield, but Paul Pogba has upped the ante and successfully filled in the gap with inspired performances, often even playing as a one-man army. Pogba joined Juventus in 2013 after facing a lack of opportunities at Manchester, and Pirlo admits it was surprising to see Manchester United letting go of Pogba.
“We saw from his first training session with Juventus that he was special. There was a disbelief among the senior players that Manchester United had allowed him to leave.
“Since then he has grown physically and as a player. For me he is now the most complete central midfield player in the world,” he said.
Paul Pogba has been pivotal to the Old Lady’s season as they close in on another Serie A win. The departure of the French international, despite the incentive of the huge fee for Juventus, will lead to a massive hole in their midfield. His absence will be hard to compensate for, and Juventus are unlikely to find an adequate replacement for him either from their existing squad or from the available options in the transfer market.
