Why Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba isn’t worth €100 million
It’s discussed so often that it seems certain that whichever team decides to acquire Paul Pogba, they’ll have to break the world transfer fee record to attain the midfielder. While he may be worth the price down the line, the French international has not proven that he is worth the […]
It’s discussed so often that it seems certain that whichever team decides to acquire Paul Pogba, they’ll have to break the world transfer fee record to attain the midfielder. While he may be worth the price down the line, the French international has not proven that he is worth the fee yet.
“I’ve always said that for me, Paul is a Basquiat. He’s very expensive. At Rolls-Royce, they say ‘if you have to ask how much the car costs, you can’t afford it.’ We can’t give figures, but last year Juventus said no to offers of €85 million. €100 million? Juve have always said that’s the sum they want. It’s a way of saying he’s one of the best players on the planet.”
Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola, who also represents Mario Balotelli, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku among others, made that statement to French radio station RMC Sport recently. The sentiments echo what Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said in July when the Portuguese native compared the 22-year-old to the Eiffel Tower. We get it, Pogba is a unique talent who has the rare combination of size, strength, technical ability and creativity. He can potentially become the best player in the world. But, he isn’t anywhere near that level yet so why is Juventus demanding so much for him?
In the offseason, the Old Lady lost Carlos Tevez to Boca Juniors, Andrea Pirlo to New York City FC and Arturo Vidal to Bayern Munich. The latter two were the focal points to the four-time reigning Serie A champions’ midfield. Without their brain, Pirlo, and heart, Vidal, the Bianconeri is suffering their worst start in almost 30 years with only 12 points in 10 matches which places them currently in 12th place. A lot of responsibility has been put on the 2014 Fifa World Cup Best Young Player’s shoulders to carry the team and he’s been unable to handle it so far. When Tevez left, manager Massimiliano Allegri handed the No. 10 shirt to Pogba. The gesture was a symbol that the 2014 Bravo Award winner had become the most important player on the team but his form has been poor so far this season. In 14 appearances, the 2013 Golden Boy recipient has only one goal and two assists while also taking the most shots on the team. He’s been receiving criticism from fans and pundits but he has an important supporter on his side defending his slow start.
“For one born in 1993, he showed some exceptional things. I am in touch with him daily, and he doesn’t need advice. Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we’re the ones who are asking too much from a player of that age. We must leave him alone. I have no worries, his future is extremely bright,” said Pavel Nedved.
The 2003 Ballon d’Or winner was recently voted as Juventus’ vice president and seems to want to decrease pressure off his club’s prized possession. Maybe the spotlight is too bright for “the Octopus.” During this campaign so far, the 2013-14 member of the Serie A Team of the Year seems to be looking to do the spectacular every time he has the ball at his feet instead of making the right play for his side. Allegri discussed playing Pogba in the hole more often this season as a playmaker but the U-20 Fifa World Cup winner has remained in his natural central midfield role for the most part. The former Manchester United product has a role similar to Yaya Toure for Manchester City. But Pogba doesn’t have the same impact in controlling the midfield while reading the game to see when to make the proper runs into the final third of the pitch. He also isn’t the leader Toure is yet. During last week’s 0-0 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League, Pogba criticized striker Alvaro Morata when he made a questionable decision.
“I was angry with Morata and I hope that in the next match he will pass me the ball in the crucial moment,” said the three-time Supercoppa Italiana winner.
While he may be right that Morata should’ve passed him the ball, there were several moments in the match when Pogba shot wildly outside the 18-yard-box instead of also making a better play. He must learn to keep his criticisms of teammates outside the media and handle affairs internally especially when you can also be blamed for making the same mistakes.
When Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid in 2009 for €94 million, he’d already had been the best player on a team that won the Premier League and Champions League, led the Premier League in scoring and won the Ballon d’Or. His skills at that point demanded the fee and he has surpassed expectations. When Los Blancos broke their own transfer record by signing Gareth Bale four years later for €100 million, the price was unjustified. But at least Bale had proven that he had to quality to carry a team by scoring 26 goals in his last season for Tottenham and won the Professional Footballers Association Players’ Player of the Year twice and Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year during his time there.
Pogba has accomplished a lot in his young career but so far is struggling to lead teams the way Ronaldo and Bale did before they made their big money moves. The summer transfer window may be the time we see Pogba finally leave Turin for over €100 million but he hasn’t shown that he’s worth it yet.
