Rumours are growing that Manchester City could be ready to splash out big time this summer, with Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba top of their expensive wish-list.

The dynamic midfielder could cost anything between £60m and £80m.

The Frenchman is fast becoming one of the world’s best middlemen, who can turn games with his ability and help dictate things in the biggest of games.

At twenty-two years of age, Pogba will be seen by many at City as the ideal replacement for the outgoing Yaya Toure and as a huge cornerstone to build a team around, a team capable of competing at the highest level both at home and in Europe!

If Man City manage to capture this illustrious signing then they would also be scoring a major goal against their city rivals Manchester United.

See for those of you that don’t know, Paul Pogba signed for Man United as a sixteen year old. Pogba was seen as the heir apparent to Paul Scholes crown at Old Trafford. But the youngster would become increasingly annoyed with the lack of first team opportunities (he would only feature in three league games).

He would leave United in the summer of 2012.

The star wasn’t an instant starter in Turin but worked his way into an extremely talented Juventus midfield and soon cemented his place.

As we all now know, Paul Pogba is one of the world’s hottest properties and is seen as the talent that Sir Alex Ferguson let slip through his fingers.

When he departed the ‘Red Devils’ Pogba was slated for being ungrateful, impatient and being a money chaser. Fergie himself said as much when talking about Paul’s exit…

‘It is disappointing. I don’t think he showed us any respect at all, to be honest. I’m quite happy that if they carry on that way, they’re probably better doing it away from us,’

Those same words were said when Pogba walked out of Le Havre as a promising youth player to join Man Utd in October 2009.

But the fact is that Paul Pogba’s career choices have so far been vindicated. In Italy he has matured in to a fine player who has made some mistakes but has quickly learned from them. His form in Serie A and the Champions League with Juve, made sure he was a cert for last year’s World Cup Pogba where he would impress for Les Bleus and eventually secure the prize of being the tournaments best young player.

This season in his thirty-one appearances for the Serie A champions, Pogba has impressed with solid, strong and always seems driven to succeed.

In reality ‘Il Popo Paul‘ would probably be better served staying with ‘La Vecchia Signora’ for one more year. The Italians are on the brink of big success in Europe and next summer sees France host Euro 2016. It could be seen as ideal preparation for that event if Pogba stays in Turin and comes to the Euros settled in his career. A move could create unease as the midfielder tries to make an impact at a new club. He’s contracted to the Italian giants until 2019, so there is no need to leave.

But then again his agent is one Mino Raiola, who has brokered many a big deal for the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli.

Mino recently teased us all by saying…

“I believe if the right offer comes along for Pogba and for Juve, then the transfer will take place.”

In March, Raiola would cover all his bases (his best trick) by stating…

“What are his chances of staying? As of today it’s 99 per cent. Juve agree with our approach, which is that they will only sell if Paul asks to leave and there’s a suitable offer. Of course, it could become one per cent, it depends on the market.”

So you can see why major European clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Man City would be convinced that they could make Pogba a deal that he couldn’t refuse and force Juve’s hand.

With Manchester City so desperate to rebuild a world-class team, they could see Pogba as the marquee signing that will see more follow and galvanise all those at the club. Being twenty-four he would instantly bring the average age down in the first team if he were to replace Yaya Toure.

United fans would detest it if the one that got away suddenly started to dominate midfield battles whilst wearing a sky blue jersey in the English Premier League.

Man United fans still don’t really take the City rivalry seriously. They still see them as the noisy neighbours that are inferior to those at Sir Matt Busby Way.

When Carlos Tevez crossed Manchester to join City, Man Utd fans convinced themselves that he too was a money grabber. They also saw him as being high maintenance and that Sir Alex had decided not to keep the Argentine. Yet United fans still hated traitor Tevez.

So you can only imagine that they will go berserk if Manchester City can get the best out of ‘deserter’ Paul Pogba, who has the potential to become the world’s most influential midfielder.

If City can convince the Frenchman to sign on at the Etihad, then the Manchester derby could be on a whole new level next term.

This one signing could see that particular derby become the biggest game in England!

Posted on May 13th, 2015 by scott
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