#3 Clubs may be wary post-Pogba
While I don’t think it’s fair to judge a player simply on one season – especially as he’s only 24 years old. However, it’s fair to say at this stage that Paul Pogba hasn’t set the world alight since his mega-money move to Old Trafford. When you spend £89m on a player you kind of expect them to hit the ground running, and Pogba just hasn’t done that despite a handful of outstanding performances.
If anything, he’s been outshone at Old Trafford by a free transfer (Zlatan Ibrahimovic) and at times by an academy graduate (Marcus Rashford). The final judgment on whether Pogba was truly worth all that money will likely come a few years down the line, but it’s worth wondering whether his low-key performances this year have partially been caused by the added spotlight that comes with being the world’s most expensive player.
With football now more than ever being seen as a big business venture, the last thing clubs want to do – even mega-rich ones like United – is waste money. If Pogba had been a huge hit instantly then his success could’ve inspired other huge clubs to take the risk and splash out, even more, money for a prospect like Kylian Mbappe or Dele Alli. As it is though, they might be a little more careful with their purse-strings after seeing Pogba not really live up to his fee.
