Manchester United have been milking the absolute shit out of the Paul Pogba deal across social media and their TV channel MUTV, and with good reason. It's a statement signing, the type that has not been seen in the Premier League for some time.
But it's not rubbing everyone the right way.
Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klopp, among others, have hit out at the idea of spending whatever is necessary to get what you want, and Jose Mourinho today responded, not for the first time, with a bit of a not-so-sly barb.
Sometimes in football, things happen and the club breaks the record, but this is only possible at clubs like Manchester United.
When I heard some of the comments and heard some of the managers criticising that, I don't think they ever have this problem because, to have this problem, you need to be at one of the top clubs in the world.
Ouch.
Mourinho is claiming, indirectly, that Arsenal and Liverpool are not top clubs, but a former Liverpool manager has claimed today that Manchester United are not a club at all.
Gerrard Houllier was speaking to ESPN and claimed that the fee over Pogba's head could cause problems, and while it won't hurt United financially, it is a detachment from what a football club should be about.
The sum involved in the transfer has an inhibiting side. It could become a problem depending on the personality of the player, who shouldn’t put himself under pressure in terms of that.
That’s why the manager’s discourse is very important He’s [Pogba] not going to have €100m games every week… therefore you have to know his character. Then it depends on the club and the environment. The English want a star.
Manchester United generate impressive income. €120m over five years? That’s an instalment of €25m per season — it’s reasonable when you have a budget of over €500m. Because Man U carry out purchases or sales every transfer window of around €50m.
It’s no longer a club. It’s a factory.
It's a strange enough comment from Houllier in the sense that factories usually produce something to be sold on, which could be used to describe an awful lot of football teams but not really Manchester United, but it's clear that he does not have much time for the financial side of football appears to be growing more and more dominant.
