The four reasons Pérez wants to stall on Pogba
The Real Madrid president desires a little pause before committing to a transfer as big as signing Juve star Pogba this summer. Here's why...
No James U-Turn
The Real Madrid president does not want to see the Colombian leave the Bernabéu. James is the prototype of player that Pérez likes, as well as being very marketable. The big brands flock to James’ image and he is an idol in a strategic country for Real’s global marketing drive, due to Colombia’s size and football fan base. Pérez wants to see James in the starting line-up and the arrival of Pogba would rule that out completely.
The Higuaín conundrum
Signing Pogba would require a massive financial undertaking and Madrid cannot countenance that without first selling one of the side’s star players. When Gareth Bale arrived at the Bernabéu Gonzalo Higuaín had to make way and time has proved that the Argentinean is a world-class goalscorer and now has a 90 million euro price tag himself. When James was bought, Ángel di María was sacrificed despite being a crowd favourite and the key to the balance sought in the team by Carlo Ancelotti when Real won the Décima.
Bad blood with Mino Raiola
Relations between Pogba’s agent and the Real president were soured last season when Real general director José Ángel Sánchez had reached an initial agreement with Pogba and Pérez threw the deal off course. Later it came to Raiola’s attention that Pérez had leaked false information about the player’s private life. On the other side of the coin, Raiola is an extremely aggressive negotiator who will attempt to levy a commission of around 20 million euros for the deal, a sum that Pérez will not agree to.
The team is fine as it is
Pérez has again refused to install a sporting director at the club. The reasoning is that he sees improvements to his own work as difficult to materialize, given that Real have won two of the past three Champions Leagues. Pérez doesn’t see the need to embark on an operation as financially draining as signing Pogba. Furthermore, Pogba didn’t light up the stage at the Euros – a stand-out major tournament is often the final box to be ticked by Pérez when deciding on a Galáctico signing.