Why signing Pogba has annoyed a lot of people

Manchester United, it seems, have ruined football again. Not happy with having over a billion pounds syphoned out of the club while their rivals welcomed wealthy magnates through their doors, United have had the audacity of hiring a world class manager and signing the four players he demanded.

Bafflingly, United have opted against sitting on the record revenue generated by new Premier League TV deal and by their £75m-year-kit deal and have broken the world’s record transfer to bring one of the best midfielders in the world back to Old Trafford.

In fact, nevermind the football, United have showed utter contempt for society. The money spent on Paul Pogba, as one of journalist was eager to point out, could have been spent on building a new wing in one of Manchester’s hospitals.

And what of the thousands of families struggling to make ends meet? When will football clubs sort out the country’s welfare issues and relieve politicians of a job that is in fact theirs to do?

Both issues are, of course, much more important than football and deserve to be treated with the utmost seriousness and urgency. That, however, is not what football clubs are about nor should they be expected to atone for the shortcomings of modern society.

Manchester United spent an enormous amount of money on Paul Pogba and few would disagree that, in the grander and logical scheme of things, spending £90m on a player is simply absurd.

However, football has long stopped functioning within a logical environment. Ultimately, players are worth what clubs are prepared to pay for them.

United made Pogba the most expensive player of all times but it won’t be long before someone wrestles that particular mantle from the Frenchman. It’s the way modern football works.

Of course, allowing a player to leave for free only to invest £90m on him within four years seems pure madness. Nobody would sell a house and buy it four years later for a price 90 times higher but, again, football doesn’t follow the path of everyday economics. It has not done so in a long time and it certainly won’t change its trajectory when broadcasters are happy to invest £5.14bn over three seasons to secure broadcasting rights to the Premier League.

Furthermore, there are mitigating circumstances. When he first moved to Juventus, Pogba was not the player he is now and, after three seasons of relative obscurity, United needed to make a statement.

At 23 years of age and on the back of four incredibly successful seasons in Italy, Pogba is in the unique position of having his best years ahead of him, while being an already experienced player. Jose Mourinho has challenged him to become the heart of the club for the foreseeable future and there’s no reason why the Frenchman can’t rise to the challenge.

Obscene as some might consider the money United have spent, it is worth remembering that other clubs – both on the domestic and European scene – have made a habit of splashing cash.

Those who have the financial capabilities to compete and choose to do so, normally live to reap the reward. Those who do not, like Arsenal, fall behind without a whimper.

As the economic implications of the  Glazers regime began to bite, Sir Alex Ferguson signed the sort of players who would please an accountant but leave fans with a sour taste in their mouths and while that changed under Louis Van Gaal, the Dutchman failed to get the best out of his expensive signings.

The picture, however, has changed and United can dine at the top table again. Yes, they’ve spent a small fortune in football terms over the last three summers, but it is money they generate and there should be no qualms about them investing it as they see fit. The very same journalists crying foul at Pogba’s fee are those who criticised United for failing to act in the transfer market like a club of their size and stature should do.

After years spent fumbling about like an insecure teenager on his first date, United have strutted around the transfer window with the swagger of old. The accountancy and ethic experts who have appeared online over the last couple days aren’t concerned by Pogba’s price-tag, they are concerned by the sight of a club they thought was in terminal decline signing one of the best players in the world.

Stick with us for daily updates on the transfer scene. We have all the transfer rumours and confirmed deals throughout the summer in order to keep you in the loop.

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2 Comments

  1. What people have failed to grasp is that as a percentage of turnover, this transfer is nowhere near the biggest, in fact comparing 2 of our other legends
    Dennis law was about 65% and Bryan Robson 55% of total turn over, and yet Pogba accounts for about 20%
    in fact he is on par with Wayne Rooney, and if we get the return from Pogba that we have on Rooney then it will be money well spent.
    But, lets be honest from fans point of view, ive seen many UTD fans say that it has broken the club, becoming a buying club etc… but the way i see it, if the glazers want to spend the money then hell ill take it all….. Its not like they haven’t taken enough from the club
    nb. I am not, nor have i ever been anti-glazer, i said when they bought it it was a bit of a con ,but can anyone deny that what they have done for the club in terms of a business is anything but amazing… so let them spend their money, what would most fans rather, £100m on a player or £50 mill on player and most of rest going to their pockets..
    So bugger what anyone else thinks, because im sure if their club bought it they would damn sure ram it down our throats.!!!
    Welcome back paul!

  2. Totally agree.We need to get back the old manchester united and for that some drastic changes are required in order for us not to become the new liverpool.The money splurge happening today should have been done 7 years ago when cr7 left utd for a hefty 80 million pounds,which went for paying the interest amount of the glazers.Our midfield has been in tatters for too long that i honestly wouldnt have cared even if we had coughed up an extra 50 mill to buy pogba.And our transfers have been conducted early too as u pointed out,without the farce that was the last 3 seasons.i am of the opinion that for the league opener,we have to start without rooney and have mkhi,schneiderlin and herrera/carrick in midfield.your thoughts?

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