Last week, when there were all kinds of claims and suggestions that Paul Pogba would be announced as a Manchester United player on Friday, we refused to join in.
Friday just seemed too soon. Yes, there may well have been reliable sources, such as La Stampa’s Max Nerozzi claiming it, but it was all a bit hasty.
Pogba, Mino Raiola and Adidas (who sponsor everyone involved) were having too much of a good time. Besides, late on Friday is pretty dead media-wise, it’s a time to bury bad news, not to milk every last drop of coverage.
We thought perhaps Pogba could party a little more, see an announcement on Monday, and then continue to party for a few more days before arriving in Manchester.
But Monday came and went and, if anything, the situation seemed to take a step backwards according to Sky Sports.
In Italy, though, it’s being treated as done, to the point that Monday’s newspapers hardly covered it, and those that did had retrospective articles about his fee and career at Juventus.
Max Nerozzi claims for La Stampa on Tuesday that Pogba is on route to a new life at Jose Mourinho’s house in Manchester. He probably doesn’t mean literally on route, unless Pogba has decided to row the Atlantic and really arrive in style.
Nerozzi says Juve’s challenge now ‘is to win it all after selling the most expensive player in history’.
Again, it’s an article looking at what happens after Pogba, and then discussing the huge fees in football. For Nerozzi, once again, this one is done.
And the weight of the Italian media agrees.
