re: $215 million for Neymar or $183 million for Paul Pogba

Verratti's arguably a top 3 midfielder in the world.



Elite defensively, incredible first touch and ball control, and his passing is unbelievable. Think he'll end up having a better career than Pirlo, probably the best regista itw right now. Probably the only other midfielder itw outside of Modric who routinely outplays Barcelona's midfield when they play PSG.

For Real Madrid, Pogba if Zidane lines up as he has been in bigger games. A midfield of Casemiro, Kroos, and Modric isnt really sustainable long term from an attacking perspective, and Zidane seems hesitant to insert some of the more attack minded midfielders he has on hand.

Money is pretty irrelevant, and theyd probably just blow it on fullbacks otherwise.

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For Real Madrid, Pogba if Zidane lines up as he has been in bigger games. A midfield of Casemiro, Kroos, and Modric isnt really sustainable long term from an attacking perspective, and Zidane seems hesitant to insert some of the more attack minded midfielders he has on hand.

Money is pretty irrelevant, and theyd probably just blow it on fullbacks otherwise.

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Yeah, the money is almost beside the point when it's Real Madrid. They can spend it and the aim isn't to have internet posters bragging about the great values they're getting in the mercato but having Galacticos lifting (or dropping) trophies.


Pogba would almost certainly improve Madrid more than Neymar. I suppose you could argue that Neymar may help PSG more since their midfield is pretty stout even if Pogba would be a certain upgrade on Matuidi.

He's infinitely better defensively, and is better than Pirlo was at 23, no reason he can't.

Verratti is certainly one of the most exciting young players in the game.

He's been productive at a high level long enough that I would put him near Pogba in terms of value to a team, particularly since he plays a position that's proven harder to fill than box to box or attacking midfielder, CB or second striker/winger recently.



Verratti's a turbo charged David Pizarro and if you love deep midfielders it's also hard to design a more enjoyable player than that.

I'm not saying Verrati isn't amazing, or that I don't jizz every time I watch him, but he'd have to have a hell of a career to out do Pirlo. So there is plenty of reason he probably won't reach those heights. When the regista fell out of style, Pirlo was the only one who kept it alive. Guardiola said as much when referencing his own career. Pirlo was the centerpiece for some of the best teams of the noughties.

Also it's a bit disingenuous to talk about Pirlo at 23 when the fact of the matter was that period when Pirlo played, the 3 man midfield was supremely unpopular. Verrati would have similar difficulty playing in a two man midfield that was so popular at the time.

Naymar

Very few players can sell enough jerseys to pay off that few and it is a business

I am normally always hollering for Arsenal to go full-out after a world-class scorer.

But 215M for Neymar?

frick no.

Problem is, if Arsene had that much money to spend, he'd probably still sit on it.