The biggest transfer story this summer will be Juventus star Paul Pogba, who has been linked to the biggest clubs in Europe. According to Spanish publication AS, Juventus are preparing for Pogba’s departure this summer and have stuck a €100 million price tag to his head. The report goes on to say that the Italian club have already held meetings with Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Barcelona.
Hanging over this deal are the Financial Fair Play ramifications and whether teams can really afford that sort of expenditure on one player. One club that appears to have no qualms about stepping over the FFP line is PSG, who are determined to make the French midfielder the face of the club. PSG striker Edinson Cavani has also been linked with a move back to Serie A, and with a transfer value of €50 million, he could be used as a makeweight to make the deal work.
Manchester City seem to be embracing FFP after getting hit with fines and penalties last season, and that makes it difficult to see how they could pull off this deal. City can offer Edin Džeko as a makeweight in the deal, but with a value of around €25 million, City would need to come up with around €75 million in cash to complete the deal, something I don’t think they can do under FFP.
Chelsea have also been linked with a move for Pogba, but similar to Manchester City I don’t see how they can make a deal work under FFP. Even if they included Oscar (€40 million value) the Premier League champions would have to come up with €60 million in cash, and I cannot see how they manage that while strengthening the side in other areas this summer.
The wild card in this is Barcelona who are currently under a transfer ban, which means that any potential deal wouldn’t bring Pogba to the Camp Nou until 2016. But the ban also means that Barca will spend nothing in transfers this summer, money that can then be rolled into 2016. Barca could also buy Pogba and along him back to Juve for the 2016 season, which is a win-win for the Serie A champions, who will get the cash plus Pogba for next season. Barca can also use Pedro or Martin Montoya as makeweights in the deal.
Where do you think Paul Pogba will go to this summer?
