According to latest reports, Manchester United is on the verge of completing the record breaking transfer of French midfield dynamo Paul Pogba in the coming days for a fee rumoured to be around the £86 million mark. It would smash all previous transfer records and make Pogba the most expensive player in the world. However, former Manchester United midfield legend is not too enthused with the price tag and feels that for a player who is not going to contribute as much towards goal scoring like Messi or Ronaldo should not be commanding such a fee.
Scholes was speaking to Sports Witness about the impending transfer and although he says that Pogba is a talented player, he does not feel the fee represents any sort of value. It should be remembered that Scholes was a player at United when Pogba was a youth player at the same club. He said, "He was a very talented young player, I played with him and I knew how good he was. He played for the first team maybe once or twice, but from my understanding he was asking for too much money [when he left in 2012]."
"For his age, he was asking for far too much money, for a player who hasn't played first-team football. OK, he has gone on to great things. I think certainly there has been a lot of improvement. He needed to improve if he is going to be a player worth £86m."
He added : "I just don't think he is worth £86m. For that sort of money, you want someone who is going to score 50 goals a season like Ronaldo or Messi. Pogba is nowhere worth that kind of money yet."
On the other hand, he praised bitter rivals Manchester City for acquiring German midfield enforcer Ilkay Gundogan, "I think Gundogan is a really impressive player. I've seen a lot of him at Borussia Dortmund. I think he has a lot of injury problems, which could be a problem. If he can stay fit, I think he can be a fantastic player. I also think he is great value for the money Manchester City paid for him. I think he is a bargain."
(quotes from The Guardian)
