Pogba Has Agreed Juve Deal?

The National is reporting that Paul Pogba has agreed to move Juventus on a deal worth around £20k a week. Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, who is famous for orchestrated big money moves for his clients like Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has reportedly earned £2m for himself in commission in organising the deal.

Raiola became Pogba’s agent last year and spoke to some of Europe’s richest clubs, including Manchester City and AC Milan, to get his player a top deal. Sir Alex Ferguson clearly doesn’t have any time for the agent and spoke out about this last December.

“He’s got an agent who’s obviously become a bit difficult but we’re negotiating with this agent and we want the boy to stay,” he said. “Matt Busby summed it up perfectly, that you don’t need to chase money at a club like Manchester United, it will eventually find you. If you’re good enough, you will earn money and become rich playing for us.”

Ferguson had apparently given Pogba a deadline to sign a new contract and that date has come on gone.

United will receive Fifa-mandated “training compensation” worth a few hundred grand.

Pogba was missing from the Reserves squad tonight, sparking rumours that he was either in the squad for Thursday night’s Europa League game… or he was off.

Could United afford the £20k a week and the ridiculous agent fee? Yes. Whilst the purse strings are certainly tighter under Glazer ownership, the wage bill has soured over the past few seasons. This is more likely an issue of principle and structure, with United not wanting to break the bank for a player who has only played two hours of football for the first team. Players and their agents take the piss these days but a club like Manchester United can’t be given the run around by teenagers who rarely even make the bench for the first team.

There are things that happen at our club that don’t happen everywhere else and that may be frustrating. Losing to Blackburn with our best player out of the squad because he’d come to training hungover was annoying. Selling our top goalscorer because he had a strop about being benched and was acting up behind the scenes pissed some people off. But you have to trust that the manager knows what he’s doing and it is for the benefit for the club. If players are going to piss about, the manager knows better than anyone how to deal with them. If the manager doesn’t think it’s wise to pay 18-year-old Pogba £20k a week, then I’ll trust that he knows better than us. Although that won’t make it any less frustrating if Pogba is sold to Real Madrid for £40m in a few years time…