It would be pointless to go to city, definitely a step down.
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Lol, just read one of you donuts calling him the 'new zidane'. The hype around this kid is ridiculous. 80 fecking million.....
Barca 2016/17 seems to be the most likely destination. He will get another year at Juve, which will give them more time to bring in replacements and he will join the at this moment best team in the world and probably earn a shit load of money as well.
Always thought he would be destined to end up at Real like his idol Zidane but I guess playing with Messi, Neymar and Iniesta in one team isn't too shabby either.
Always thought he would be destined to end up at Real like his idol Zidane but I guess playing with Messi, Neymar and Iniesta in one team isn't too shabby either.
I still think he'll end up at City.
Perhaps alongside Sterling and De Bruyne.
Perhaps alongside Sterling and De Bruyne.
Would be the most overpriced transfer until now for me. He's a good player with massive potential, but some go really overboard. When you compare him to his age mates like Courtois, Veratti, Neymar, de Bruyne, James, Gotze, I dont think he really comes close. Apart from Gotze, they were all world class this season for example.
So was Pogba until he got injured.
He wasnt. He maybe hat a month where he was in really good form, but he hasnt been world class for the majority of a season yet. Unless you classify scoring 4 worldies over a season, a world class season.
He was kind of carrying us for a while before his injury. There were games where all our spells of good play were coming through him and he was making the difference in the matches.
Curious what sort of character he is, Pizza boy's clients have always left me unconvinced. In terms of talent I'd love to see him develop & play with Barcelona's squad although I think it'd be an indulgent transfer - the club could do as well with a much more moderately priced target. Thiago would've been great
Lot of revisionism regarding pogba. He is most definitely a fantastic player. Attitude, consistency are things that needs work for sure. Him going to barca could benefit him more than barca in the short term and eventually become a mainstay in barca's future.
Why does he need to work on his attitude? Consistency isn't really a problem for him either as he can take control of matches. The guy is only like 22 years old can't expect him to get motm performances every week.
How do you think he'd fit in at Barca? I'm struggling to see it being the best career move for him at this stage, I imagine at Barcelona he'd be too restricted in his license to bomb forward given you already have Messi, Neymar and Suarez pulling the strings, similar to how Toure never really got to utilise his full skillset there.
I have seen pogba in beast mode and then fading away within a match at times. He has all the abilitiy to actually 'take control' throughout the match. I expect that from pogba. Attitude is the same, his attitude towards being at his best all the time is what I am talking about, which I think he can improve. Hardly any criticism if you are getting defensive.
For me there is no attitude problem, just that he seems to play football with some nonchalance. I'm not saying he is lazy but that football is easy on him and it makes him appear "arrogant" on the ball.
As a United fan, will you feel anything if he goes there?
I think on the ball, or well when Barca have possession, he'll be able to bomb into the box but he will just need more discipline tracking back - there'll still be Rakitic/Iniesta & Busquets covering.
Actually, in tight matches, one of Barca's key components have been the goal threat and directness from Rakitic to unlock defences. So I doubt he'll be as stifled as Toure was over there. He'll essentially be playing in what is in all likelihood his best position - box to box midfielder, or even slightly ahead of Rakitic.
This Barca team is also way more direct than Pep's teams. So if you had compared him to those teams id have agreed wrt his style suffering. But I can't see it as a problem now.
As a United fan i would prefer if they didn't sign good players and Pogba is a very good one.
Beyond that no not really. He was a youngster at United who ran his contract down, he turned down our offer to stay and chose to leave.
I don't hold that against him but i have no great love for him either he's just another player in my mind.
Revisionism means changing your opinion, so it's not revisionism to say he's over priced at 80M or that he isn't world class, because myself (and many others) never claimed that in the first place. At any point. I don't think anyone is saying he is a bad player. I think everyone agrees he is very good. Where I draw the line are hilarious comparisons to Zidane. If he was available for 40 or 50M EUROS, I'd want us to take the punt; but even then recognizing that it's a lot to spend on a 22 year old midfielder who may or may not fill his obviously rich potential. At 80M you are getting into a once in a generation type player who can change and shape games single handedly. A role really only reserved for much more attack orientated players.
Of course whatever is being quoted is ridiculous. Everyone is overpriced, or most players are. If one values a 22 year old midfielder at 50 million like you are saying, then he automatically is in that elite class for his age group even by your consideration, right? Which is what we both agree on, that he is indeed very good. It's not only about pogba, many other players suddenly starts getting berated due to the price tag associated with them. Of course there is an equal share of overrating him as well.
I think we are agreeing....
Price tag is only part of it. Clubs often say silly things about prices, as do agents. But as good as I think Pogba is, the hyperbole from average fans has reached almost ludicrous levels. Veratti for example doesn't have anything like the level of profile Pogba does, but in my opinion is a significantly more accomplished player at the same age. Pogba's propensity to lash in the odd 40 yard screamer seems to speak volumes in the youtube era.
While everyone recognizes his talent/potential, I like that he has that competitiveness that the best talents always seem to have
I don't agree that he'd be too restricted either as he's not really a regular goal scoring threat. He'll have plenty of chances to get onto the scoresheet with those runs into the box however. And I like the similarity to Yaya actually and unlike your take, I don't think he was misused at Barcelona, just wasn't going to displace Xavi & Busquets but who would?
Fair enough with your take on Pogba. As for Toure, I don't think he was misused at Barca, but his purpose in the team was only ever a defensive one given you had the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Villa, Messi etc. to pull the strings, and Busquets was better suited to that role. That's my concern with Pogba. Sure, he can still be a great player there and help you win countless trophies, but as a neutral, I'd rather be watching him elsewhere where his attacking threat can be a focal point of the side rather than a sideshow; just as Toure was/is at City.
Barca and Juve both say the meeting was corporate rather than dealing with Pogba don't they? Either could be bullshit.
Pogba to Barca means Real gets nowhere near the La Liga title and it would take a fluke of some sort to keep Barca from the Champions league too as far as I can see.
Tiki Taka is dead, people wrongly assume it will survive with Messi but it wont, it was built around Xavi and Iniesta. Xavi is gone and Iniesta will take a relaxing pay day in Qatar or the US after next season I reckon.
Neymar - Suarez - Messi
Pogba - Busquets - Rakitic
You could put a Sunday league defence behind that and they'd still win La Liga and likely CL too.
Pogba to Barca means Real gets nowhere near the La Liga title and it would take a fluke of some sort to keep Barca from the Champions league too as far as I can see.
Tiki Taka is dead, people wrongly assume it will survive with Messi but it wont, it was built around Xavi and Iniesta. Xavi is gone and Iniesta will take a relaxing pay day in Qatar or the US after next season I reckon.
Neymar - Suarez - Messi
Pogba - Busquets - Rakitic
You could put a Sunday league defence behind that and they'd still win La Liga and likely CL too.
Don't you lot have to worry about FFP and the home grown quota? I think you will end up getting only Sterling out of those three.I still think he'll end up at City.
Perhaps alongside Sterling and De Bruyne.
I won't bore you or others with my take on Yaya, I posted on this when he was sold to you lot. Suffice it to say, he was valued & loved by the club, fans & teammates. He had other priorities besides getting more minutes as City fans have seen over the past few seasons with his wage demands
I am skeptical the Pogba deal will materialize, mostly due to the political nature of Barto's pursuit of Ardan which should make for an interesting conversation with Lucho. If Paul was to arrive, I think he'd provide the box to box needs in midfield much like Yaya did and the player has already confirmed he is ambitious and wants titles. Not every great talent can be satisfied being a part of a team rather than a focal point yet some are both motivating by winning and the opportunity to play with generational talents - Neymar & Suarez are just 2 examples.
Election results will influence things heavily obviously but there appears to be a concerted effort to close the Ardan deal ahead of the vote for obvious reasons
Pogba counts as homegrown in England,* and didn't City just have their FFP restrictions lifted, or was that just PSG?
*Edit: according to FM.
That's the point, for a while. He hasnt been consistent class in a season yet.
I doubt pogba will be any better than toure was for barcelona tbh. Physicality means very very little in the spanish game compared to england germany & italy. However the space he gets maybe good for his long shooting ability.
Stilk worth nothing more than 50 million max.
Stilk worth nothing more than 50 million max.
Again the guy is 22 years old. His injury set him back towards the end of the season so he wasn't able to carry his momentum into the CL semi finals and final. Had he not been injured he would have had a bigger impact on the CL no doubt about that.
He is a very complete midfielder and he was the player showing the most maturity for our team earlier on in the season when the team was still struggling to adapt to the new managers tactics.
Nonsense, there's a reason why Yaya was so effective in the Primera where his defensive duties were greater than they are in the Premiership. His physicality coupled with his technical & creative skills is precisely what makes him so complete
I didnt say yaya was bad; i just think he was better for city than he was for barcelona. Likewise Pogba's game is more suited to the PL and him moving to spain is actually a small bonus to teams in the PL.
His serious injury came in March, are you saying he was consistently world class from august untill March? Fair enough that he was a bit under his level after injury, that's normal. But he's very inconsistent during the season and even during the matches, even though he shows a lot of qualities. His age counterparts, have shown far more consistency and class throughout the season than Pogba.. Although for de Bruyne, this is the first season where he has really really performed since Chelsea.
You were pretty explicit that physicality is not needed in the Primera due to it's higher technical level, I simply responded that it was untrue and Yaya was merely one example of that
Excellent players can play in any league, it's as much a fallacy as those who claim Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Messi et al couldn't play in the Premiership
He only left Chelsea last year - hes notched up 33 assists, 19 goals in 69 games since leaving for Wolsfburg. He even managed 10G and 11A in 33 on his season out on loan from Chelsea - and his stats as a youngster at Genk are also impressive. He's performed pretty much everywhere he has played except Chelsea - before and after. He only managed 9 games at Chelsea, but beyond that spell he's consistently produced.
Home grown quota definitely - that's why you'll see Delph perhaps join for £8m etc (although he's a great squad option). We do have youth that have been promoted (Denayer & Iheanacho), but whether they are ready for this level or would benefit from another loan I'm not sure - Deneyar has been impressive for Belgium mind you.
FFP seemingly less so, we've already been told by the Chairman that we've made a profit this year, so we obviously feel we can take a future hit on the books. Remember if you spend £150m on 5 year deals it's spread to £30m a year on your P+L which is what is judged against the FFP rules, offset that against a few sales this year and the first real impact on the accounts probably isn't until next year, when our revenue will likely increase again.
FFP restrictions on City have been lifted, as with PSG. Throw enough money at the right places and they go away when needed. Nice little money maker for Eufa though, and people want Platini for Fifa pres...ha
Pogba I believe is just short of counting as home grown too. And as he's now 22, he couldn't make up the difference after joining City.
Only restriction they have now is the home-grown players really. So id expect a few big names for the first team, and a few English money grabbers who are happy to throw away their careers having to never play a game of football for them.
Unfortunately Denayer and Iheanacho don't count as HG players yet.
I really think City are going to make the biggest pu$h for him and I expect they will get him as a result.
Would be a big statement from them, and one I am sure they are very keen to make.
Let's not forget the wealth of their owners.
Would be a big statement from them, and one I am sure they are very keen to make.
Let's not forget the wealth of their owners.
I think with Pogba having already lived in Manchester if the option of living in sunny Barcelona by the beach or even Madrid i'd imagine that would factor quite highly as well.
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