Every presidential election race at Barcelona or Real Madrid can always guarantee tantalising promises of star signings to spice things up, and the contest to take charge at the Nou Camp later this month is certainly no exception.
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Outside candidate Jordi Majo got the ball rolling by claiming to have been offered Sergio Ramos, and other names to have been bandied around as Josep Maria Bartomeu and Joan Laporta (the only two feasible winners) step up their campaigns have been Atletico Madrid duo Arda Turan and Koke, and Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria.
One man, however, has featured far more prominently than any other, with Juventus’s hugely talented French midfielder Paul Pogba fast becoming one of the leading characters in this particular presidential drama.
Paul Pogba is willing to postpone the decision on his future until after Barcelona elections. Will only talk with next president. [sport]
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) June 30, 2015
Laporta, who served as president between 2003 and 2010, claims the upper hand in the race for Pogba’s signature due to his supposedly close relationship with his agent Mino Raiola, although Bartomeu – who recently finished a brief stint in charge at the Nou Camp and can boast the signing of Luis Suarez under his watch – also claims to be close to Raiola.
Whoever ends up triumphing, Bartomeu or Laporta, it certainly appears that the new president will make signing Pogba one of his chief priorities.
Amid the jostling for position by the candidates, however, one key question that has been somewhat overlooked is whether Barca actually need Pogba in the first place – especially if the fee, as reported, reaches around the €100 million (Dh409m) mark.
After all, Barca have just won a league, cup and Champions League treble, doing so in wonderful style after finding their feet midway through the season: if ever there was a case of a boat that does not need to be rocked by the introduction of a world-record transfer, surely it is Barca right now?
Looking at the long-term, however, far from being a dangerous vanity signing captured by an over-excitable new president on a glamourous whim, Pogba would actually be a wonderful addition and perfectly fit the needs of the squad.
With Xavi gone, Andres Iniesta now 31 and Rafinha yet to completely convince, the centre of midfield is an area of the pitch where Barca do need reinforcements.
Just as significantly, considering the change of playing style implemented by Luis Enrique last season, the prototype midfielder for the ‘new’ Barca is a player exactly in Pogba’s mould: powerful, energetic and dynamic – just as we saw from the outstanding Ivan Rakitic over the last few months.
Signing Pogba won’t be easy because Barca, due to their ongoing FIFA transfer ban, would not actually be able to register him until January, and mega-money moves from the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester City could persuade the Frenchman that he doesn’t have to wait that long.
But everything Pogba has shown in his brief career to date suggests that he is worth Barca making every possible effort to sign.
With his age, his range of abilities and the fact that he is perfectly suited to the newly adopted playing style of the team, signing Pogba could well play a major role in maintaining the reigning European champions’ place at the top of world football for the next five years or more.
