I think the false reality is the belief that spending money equates to having success. It's lazy and has been found out over the last 12 months.Breaking fee records for Zidane is different to breaking fee records for Pogba.
No one could argue that buying expensive players for its own sake would lead to success. The last 3 years proved that point. It is about identifying a player that is needed and is much better than those we currently have. Btw Mahrez is currently available. He may not be a Mourinho type of player but for me he would bring flair and excitement to our play.
The new reality is that there is now vastly more money in football (particularly in English football and at Utd) than there was a few years ago, and even last year. Consider us as an example. Despite having achieved nothing of note over the last three years, our base revenue (regardless of success on the pitch) has gone up by around £130 million a year, an increase of almost 50% over 2013. £50m from the adidas shirt deal, £25m from the Chevrolet deal, £10m from the Aon training deal and £45m from the new PL TV deals. Even with the lost revenue from on pitch success over that time we still have much more cash available, as does every PL club and many of the overseas clubs. The amount of money in the game is now beyond stupid, and means that fees and wages are going to rise, if not pushed by us then pushed by other clubs. The only real surprise, imo, is that it has taken as long as it has for Ronaldo's transfer record to be broken by more than the general rate of inflation.
The irony here is that I see Mahrez as very much a United-type of player. If Hazard performed well for Mourinho in title winning season, I see no reason why Mahrez would not fit. However, from branding and marketing standpoint, I doubt that Woodward would ditch Pogba for Mahrez.
may be this indicates how exceptional a player he is. £80m was cheap at the price. He must have repaid it many times. Pogba is obviously not Ronaldo and not worth as much. Even with the huge age difference.
Wasn't there some talk a while ago about FIFA (I'm not actually sure if it wasn't actually David Gill) about a pan-European wage cap for players. That would certainly change the way that agents play the transfer game at the moment - putting players into the right clubs in terms of development, culture etc rather than just opt for the biggest pay-day.
I don't get your last line? Do you genuinely think signing Pogba will make people buy a shirt or not? I would say that the reason we wouldn't ditch Pogba for Mahrez is that they don't play in the same position and we've already signed Mychitarian, who can/does play off the right, as does Mahrez.
Very true - as I said in the other thread, the rate of general transfer inflation since 2009 is such that if Ronaldo's move happened today he would probably go for around £150m+, around the same as Zidane if he moved today. Does make the Pogba fee seem slightly more reasonable, although admittedly not much more.
Micky did make his debut at number 10, so there may be room for Mahrez, if Young and Mata are on their way out. Martial on the left, Micky at 10 and Mahrez on the right would be quality of alliterative proportions
It would yes, I agree and Mahrez is brilliant. Means getting rid of some other players as you say, and I would guess Rooney is earmarked for 10 anyway. Mahrez is still not an alternative for Pogba though. In any respect.
I would hope that, even if Mourinho's first choice was to put Rooney at 10, he wouldn't have no other options. In the same way I would like us to get Pogba to give us more options at CM, I would like us to get Mahrez to give us more options across the front 3/4, particularly given how well Micky's movement would be in creating space for Mahrez and Martial's pace. Whether the budget will stretch to both Pogba and Mahrez or not is another matter.
Yeah, I agree. I don't think Rooney should be an automatic pick at all. If Mahrez is genuinely available we should look to buy him as he is proper quality.
Common sense prevails, looks like we're in for Joe Allen. Would be cheaper than Pogba and he got in the Euro's team of the tournament so must be good, right. Just the player we need, none of our CM's can do what he does.
Mahrez doesn't have any clauses in his contract unlike Kante so whoever wants him will have to pay through the nose. He does seem to have his heart set on Barca though - dunno how he'll fit there atm so hopefully will give us another year.
He is available for £15M apparently - so will be £35M after Woodwards negotiating. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...rumours-joe-allen-manchester-united-liverpool
