Chelsea FC Transfer Rumors: Key Transfer Targets – Part 1
Paul Labile Pogba
Sir Alex Ferguson was probably the most astute manager to grace the English Premier League, as his multitude of titles and personal awards with Manchester United would attest to. But even he was prone to his own share of transfer gaffes, the biggest of which was his decision to allow Paul Pogba leave to join Juventus for free! What makes his decision even more bizarre is the fact that one of the players he pushed forward ahead of Pogba, Tom Cleverly, is no longer considered to be good enough for Man Utd.
Pogba only managed 7 substitute appearances for Man Utd before signing with Juventus for free in July 2012 (but they had to pay a compensation fee of 800,000 pounds), with Ferguson claiming that Pogba didn’t show Manchester United any respect. Since joining Juventus, he has grown to become an integral part of the team, as his signing coincided with Juventus’ dominance in Italian football, with the club winning back-to-back League titles in his 3 years at the club.
He has so far made 129 appearances for Juventus, scoring 24 goals, and was even a key part of the French squad that participated in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, despite only making his debut in March 2013. He was also named the tournament’s best young player.
Equally as comfortable threading defense-splitting passes and making driving runs past players as he is at executing tackles, interceptions and winning headers as well as being a goal-scoring threat from long-range, he is probably the most complete player to grace the game since Patrick Vieira (who also had a spell at Juventus), with the French legend himself stating that the youngster could surpass him in terms of potential, which is not a far-fetched assumption considering the fact that Pogba is still only 22 years old!
Currently valued at over 50 million pounds according to Transfermarkt, the fact that he is garnering serious interest from top European club sides (like Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG etc) could push his transfer fee even higher. This could force Chelsea to look elsewhere for more cheaper but equally good options.
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