Pogba isn't a done deal yet, but yes it looks great - on paper. It still all has to gel together on the pitch though, and we wont know if it has until the season is well under way. I'm way more optimistic for next season than I would have been if we'd sneaked 4th and LVG kept on though.

He cant do transfers and here is why. All these players have the same agent! The agent is making multiple millions from someone who is simply out of control with money. Anyone who thinks spending £100 million on someone who isnt even in the top 10 players of the world is sensible and good business needs to wake up and smell the coffee (especially when we got rid of him on a free!). Woodward simply has a vast amount of money and isnt bargaining at all, just look at the money sent since he arrived and tell me where the hidden gem transfers have been? Zlatan on a free with Mourinho at the helm is not Woodward's doing.

So the fact we got rid of him on a free once should dictate his market value?

Explain that logic.

So essentially you can never be happy? You want big name players at bargain prices with minimal payments to agents that the manager hasn't asked for?

This is a novel change from "The Glazers aren't spending all this money that the club are generating" to be fair.

I am genuinely staggered by people who seem to only want to complain about things and find the negative in everything.

Its also actually perfectly decent business sense to buy an appreciating asset in a world where the general price levels are rising consistently anyway. Again I will reference Bale, who most said wasn't worth anywhere near the money Real paid for him, but he has gone there, done well (not amazing but well) and a couple of years later, because of his age and the nature of transfer fees could be sold on with little loss or perhaps even a profit. The fact that he cost £85m doesn't actually matter if he is still worth that or more. The huge price doesn't look daft then.

Spending £100m on Pogba makes far more "business sense" (if that's how we measure the success of a transfer now) than spending £25m on RVP or £30m on Berbatov both at ages where their values could ONLY nose dive. If Pogba does well, he is worth £100m, if the move doesn't really work then he will still be sold on for huge money.

Man Utd and Ed Woodward appear to be damned if they do spend money and get deals done and damned if they don't.

Bottom line - Has Jose Mourinho got the players he asked for? If so then they have done their job, however I expected most fans to be doing cartwheels at the standard of player coming in.

Spending £100+ million on Pogba would only make business sense if he's sold on for more at a later date, or he helps the club to win enough trophies to get that back in prize money. Both could happen of course but without a crystal ball we can't say yet. It's looking good at the moment for transfers but I remember being delighted when Di Maria arrived at Old Trafford and look how that turned out so, as I've already said, I'll start doing cartwheels in a few months if the new arrivals are doing well and we flying in the league.

Which applies to every transfer, ever. Doesn't it?

Of course but not every transfer is £100 million, I was agreeing with somebody making that point but also adding a lot has got to go right for a deal of that magnitude to work out.

But you cannot judge that! Would Pogba at £80m performing in the exact same way be different? A bargain? Not really.

Of course its a lot of money but that's what it costs to buy the player that the manager wants and in order to have the best chance of success all you can do is bring in the players the manager has targeted and you don't measure the "value" of a player in the prize money associated with the trophies won during his time at the club.

If the summer signings put Man Utd back challenging for titles and back in the CL for the next few years and in some way brings the club back to that level then it is without a doubt money very well spent for the club, the owners and of course the fans.

Yesterday you sad Pogba was an amazing talent.

Marca are claiming that Varane has 'turned down' a move to United.

ESPN pick up the baton to explain that we've gone in for Bonucci. However, they state that City are favourites there, so we'll 'turn our attention' to John Stones.

In other words, it appears that the press think that Mourinho wants another centre-half.

John Stones ? No thanks. Certainly don't think he deserves the hype.

That Marca story is probably simply a trick as to say that they got one over us, by denying us the chance to sign him, after we beat them to Pogba.

I think we are okay in the centre-back department, (if Jones can stay fit, a huge, ginormous if I know), if not then another one would be good to have.

Veron is still technically more of an expense for us then Pogba would be, so in that sense the financial outlay looks quite good at this moment in time.

People complaining about the fee must understand that we can afford this, and we are in new territory in terms of turnover, we can afford this, znd if the player will improve the chances of us doing well on the pitch, (which he most likely will), then why not sign him??

What exactly would be the reason, or reasons for not doing do?

The reasons for not doing so would be the fact that its a £100m spent when technically it doesn't need to be if you can achieve top 4 without it. If you take the Arsenal spending model for example its probably not worth their while spending that money even though they could afford it. From a purely financial point of view that is. Over time it promotes the disharmony that many of their supporters feel though.

Agree with all of thiis.


Reckon we'll see a lot more of these random links to be honest. Mourinho has said that we want four major signings with three obviously being completed. Since we probably won't make any more major moves, I think some of the media will just have to try to link us to everyone in order to keep getting clicks.

Sounds like man United fans will see Pogba as a good buy and if he doesn't do well they will still be able to sell him for good money so it's not really a big gamble... Non man united fans will see him as overpriced...

Standard i suppose

All players seem to be overpriced these days. Juventus don't want to sell so it's going take a big price to get them to back down.

Maybe it's also a case of there being unfinished business?

Anyway i'm enjoying it so far, much more than during the summers involving Moyes or Obertan, Valencia and Owen.

We have a precedent.

We spent big money on Di Maria. He flopped. We sold him for big money, even though there was only one realistic buyer.

If Pogba doesn't deliver, and we take a £15-20m hit on him, it's not a massive deal. If he does deliver, then great.

I think most top clubs would gamble the £20m hit they would take if he failed for the rewards of him being brilliant for a number of years. Same for any massive signing like that. If he doesn't sign in the end, you just move on but with the money that's in the game I think there will be an increase in big money deals which will push the upper limits. By that I mean the big clubs will pay so much for the likes of Martial and Stones on the basis of their potential that the likes of Pogba etc who have actually proven themselves will have their prices driven up almost by default.

Now I'm fine will clubs spending money, be very hypocritical of me to say otherwise being a City fan but I do find it amusing to read a couple of times now you using various different methods to justify the price of Pogba, it's still a hell of a lot of money for someone who you wouldn't class as 'world class', not yet anyway.

Obviously I can't be bothered searching back but I'm pretty sure I'd find posts from you slating City last year for spending so much on Sterling/KDB/Otamendi or even Benteke for Liverpool and how ridiculous the prices were.

I actually think it might be someone like Matuidi you end up signing as I wouldn't rule out Madrid for Pogba. Juve want a bidding war.

I reckon Matuidi is the backup target if Pogba doesn't happen.

The rumours seem to be pointing that way.

I'm a lot more optimistic today than I have been lately though. Di Marzio tweets are looking positive and he was one of the first to say Jose to Utd will happen

Of course £100 million is a lot of money, I have said so only very recently (crazy is another word that I have used), but the reality is, in terms of turnover, for us it would not be the most expensive deal in our history in that sense, the Veron deal was more expensive to us as a club (as was the Rio deal), so if we can comfortably afford Pogba, and José thinks it would be beneficial for the team, then why would we not try and do so?
He is quite clearly an excellent player, with bags of potential still within him, that much we can agree on surely??

As for the other players that you mem, they were all okay at their previous clubs, perhaps Sterling was the most impressive at Liverpool, but he has certainly not lived up to his transfer fee at City, can we also agree on that point?

Matuidi might be the backup option to Pogba, and hence all the links with him, to maybe try and force Juve's hand a bit.

The only player that so far was not overpriced seems to be Ibra, what a coup he could turn out to be on a free transfer!

When did we sign Bebe, Diouf, Djemba-Djemba, Bellion, Kleberson and Dong?? Those were great times!

A slight step up it seems since those great days!

Would you say though that 28 seems to be the cut off point at which that applies, as then clubs might not be so willing to help a clubs bank balance?