#5 The top players on the market aren’t at huge clubs
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Part of the reason that Juventus were able to command such a monstrous fee last season for Pogba was that they’re probably the biggest and most powerful club in Italy. Realistically – unless Pogba were to have totally dug his heels in and refused to play, ala Dimitri Payet – they didn’t have to sell him to United. The same could, of course, have been said when United themselves sold Ronaldo to Real Madrid back in 2009.
This season’s potential big movers though – the likes of Mbappe and Griezmann – don’t currently play for all-powerful European giants. While Monaco look set to lift the league title in France, Ligue 1 just doesn’t have the same clout as the Premier League or La Liga, which means players who ply their trade there are always likely to move elsewhere eventually. And while Atletico Madrid are hugely successful in La Liga, in terms of finances they fall way behind Spain’s two giants (Real and Barcelona) and the Premier League’s sharks like Manchester City and Chelsea.
This means that to tempt one of those players away, a buying club like Real or Man United may not have to push as hard as they did for Pogba or Ronaldo. Maybe a fee much less than £89m would be enough to tempt Monaco or Atletico into selling someone like Mbappe or Griezmann, which makes it even less likely that Pogba’s record will go.
