beIN SPORTS

By Graham Ruthven (@grahamruthven)

When Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward proclaimed two years ago that his club “can do things in the transfer market that other clubs can only dream of” he probably had someone like Paul Pogba at the forefront of his mind. Indeed, the Frenchman’s transfer is one that could only be made by the Old Trafford club, true to Woodward’s bold insistence.

Despite his agent Mino Raiola’s denial to the contrary, Pogba is expected to return to United this summer as the most expensive player of all time. €120 million will be the fee, making a real statement about the ambitions held by a club fallen on hard times in recent years. This, along with Jose Mourinho’s appointment, underline that Man Utd is still a club that deals in the big-time.

But can such a transfer fee possibly be justified? How can Woodward possibly make the case that spending €120 million on one player, who remains largely unproven at the very top of the game, is astute business? No player in history will have had as much pressure piled on his shoulders as Pogba will at Man Utd. It’s just as well he has broad shoulders. 

Place Pogba’s mooted transfer fee in context, however, and the money involved doesn’t seem quite so reckless. At €120 million the Frenchman will become the most expensive soccer player of all time, but that is not a result of Man Utd’s careless spending but a consequence of the landscape the transfer is being made against.

The market has been grossly inflated by recent broadcast deals that make the Premier League the most lucrative sporting division on the planet. Clubs like Bournemouth - who average a crowd of just over 11,000 - are now able to pay £15 million for players like Jordan Ibe. Alvaro Negredo, a former Manchester City striker and Spain international, is now at newly promoted Middlesborough. The dynamic of the transfer market has shifted dramatically in a very short space of time and that must be taken into consideration when assessing Pogba’s move.

But even in the context of Manchester United’s history in the transfer market over the past two decades, Pogba’s transfer fee follows a steady trajectory. When Man Utd signed Juan Sebastian Veron for £28.1 million in 2001 the Old Trafford club recorded turnover of just £129 million. That meant the transfer of the Argentine midfielder claimed a 21.7 percent chunk of United’s turnover. Compare that to the club’s current turnover of £510 million and Pogba’s move - only 19.6 percent of turnover - doesn’t look so rash. In fact, it’s perfectly proportionate.

That is perhaps the greatest illustration of Manchester United’s current financial muscle - that they can sanction the biggest transfer in history and still live within their means. Woodward is correct in his assertion that his club can only make transfers that other clubs can only imagine, and this is the landmark move that proves it. 

Using percentage of turnover as a gauge, Pogba will only be Man Utd’s third biggest transfer in history. The move that saw Rio Ferdinand make the switch from Leeds United was bigger than the one that will see Pogba join Mourinho’s team this summer, claiming 19.9 percent of the Old Trafford side’s turnover. 

Even Roy Keane’s transfer from Nottingham Forest all the way back in 1993 was comparable to Pogba’s move, with his switch for just £3.75 million representing 14.9 percent of United’s overall turnover. It’s all relative, regardless of how staggering the money in question has become.

So when Woodward puts pen to paper on the document that will make Pogba the most expensive player in soccer history - more expensive than Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Gareth Bale and everyone else - he shouldn’t feel so bashful. What he is doing is only in line with the way the sport as a whole is going.

Even if Pogba’s record fee might not be an exception, it will be the continuation of a very expensive rule.