The ManicaPost
They were discussing the sports news on Olympic Breakfast, all cheer, bronze and optimism. Vanquished rugby players were unlucky, not outclassed, and we gazed with pride at a medal table that showed Great Britain closing fast on Thailand.
With the mention of football, however, the mood changed.
Now cynicism ruled. It was asked: how was Paul Pogba worth £89 million? No case came for the defence.
Nobody countered that with Premier League revenue measured in billions, fees and wages were relative.
Nobody cited examples from the entertainment industry, film star salaries or the contracts given to valued television personalities. It was just left there, this mystery, this waste.
“A different world,” a presenter concluded, sagely. And, indeed, it is because this summer Manchester United changed it.
In securing at long last Pogba’s signature, they reversed a flow that had run in one direction since Cristiano Ronaldo departed for Real Madrid in 2009.
Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez may be gone, Neymar and Gonzalo Higuain stayed away, but English football no longer loses the best players to Spain. Not all of them, anyway.
This summer, Ed Woodward has delivered on his intention to return Manchester United to Europe’s super elite. In doing so, he has dragged the rest of the Premier League along for the ride.
It does not matter for now whether Pogba is worthy of his fee. He was not expected to be here.
United have got English football back in the game. Where Pogba leads, others may follow. Plainly, this wasn’t United’s motive. We all know who they care for at Old Trafford, and it isn’t the rest — but undeniably the signing of Pogba is a statement of significance.
United even had to take a large gulp at the thought of recruiting a player who left the club for next to nothing in 2012, having failed to agree a new contract.
He wanted to go and, at the time, the majority agreed with Sir Alex Ferguson’s refusal to entertain his wage demands. So credit to them for swallowing their pride. It would have been easy to make a half-hearted bid, and conveniently miss out.
Players of Pogba’s calibre go to Barcelona or Real Madrid, at a push Bayern Munich. No matter the money on offer, this was supposed to be a battle United could not win. Yet they pushed it all the way.
Pogba, remember, has signed for a Europa League club — for this season, at least.
Manchester United’s spending may be designed to ensure they do not finish outside the top four again, but it will be September 2017 at the earliest before Pogba gets his next taste of Champions League football proper and that, alone, was considered enough to sabotage any deal.
Instead, a combination of ambition, ego, unfinished business, financial incentive, Jose Mourinho and the promise that this Manchester United team would be constructed around his presence, convinced Pogba to return to Old Trafford.
Some will argue that a disappointing European Championship helped, too. That had Pogba starred for France this summer as expected, the clamour from Real Madrid’s fans would have made the club push harder for his signature.
Maybe so. Yet, whatever the reason, by getting Pogba, Manchester United have boosted the status of the Premier League.
Executive vice-chairman Woodward will say this was the plan all along. Not the wider benefit, but certainly a desire to protect Manchester United’s brand by delivering marquee signings.
The previous interest in the return of Ronaldo or luring Bale from Real Madrid was part of that, too.
United, as the biggest club, are the standard bearers for the Premier League and if they are to remain competitive — and the competition is to stay marketable abroad — Woodward believes stellar signings are every bit as important as winning titles.
The fans love the emergence of young players like Marcus Rashford, but also wish to see the greats of the game wearing red.
After all, if the best players are only in La Liga, why not just watch La Liga?
Woodward feels it is United’s duty to resist Spain’s supremacy by signing Pogba, or Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
So, it is easy to be cynical, to view the Premier League as a money monster, and the recruitment of Pogba as its worst excess.
But it isn’t; in its own way, the signing alone is success. Costly, but it’s their money. And, by the way, Olympic medals hardly come cheap. — Daily Mail.
