It’s finally happening. He’s coming home (well, not quite but you know what we mean).
Paul Pogba is expected to be announced as a Manchester United player once more in the coming days. We’ve all known about it for months. L’Équipe have said it’s on. Hell, even his barber has confirmed it. And if you can’t trust the man responsible for the Frenchman’s various ridiculous and outlandish styles, then who can you trust?
So if it’s as on as everyone says it is, then why haven’t United confirmed it? It’s not like them to drag out a transfer saga until the final possible moment and risk it falling apart.
Well, as is so often the case these days in modern football, it seems that we can blame an agent. In particular, Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Raiola (who already helped bring both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to United this summer) is reportedly set to earn a 20% cut of the deal to bring Pogba to Old Trafford – which if reports of a £100m fee are accurate, will net him an eye-watering £20m.
The only problem is that the clubs can’t seem to decide who will pay the fee to the agent. United are hoping that Juventus will spot them for half of the payment, but the Italian champions are expecting Ed Woodward and co to write the cheque.
Now you might be thinking, if Manchester United are paying £100m either way and Raiola is getting a 20% cut of that money either way, why does it matter if he gets his £20m direct from United (who will then pass on £80m to Juventus) or if he gets £10m from the Red Devils (who then pass on £90m to Juve) and then a further £10m from Juventus (whose net earning from the transfer would now be £80m)?
Well, the short answer is we’re not really sure. And the long answer is that we have got no fucking idea but it’s probably about saving face for the next time either club releases their accounts and their supporters see how much money they’ve spent on agents’ fees.
Hopefully they figure it out soon so all this madness can end.
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