Paul pogba is being overated

Manchester United are ready to shell out a world record fee for the Juventus virtuoso, but must simplify his role in order to get the best out of him

Euro 2016 has come and gone, and one of the emerging subplots is the performance of Paul Pogba . If possible, scrutiny of his play has only intensified with news of Manchester United ’s willingness to shell out a world record fee - in the region of £100 million - for his services.

While it is impossible, thankless even, to try to work out what a player is worth in today’s hyper-inflated market, one can attempt to make a judgement on just how good a player is.

To simplify, Pogba is acutely unique. Monstrous physical qualities: speed and size, an almost implacable strength, balletic balance, the elegance of a gazelle bounding through a veldt; are allied to the flourish of a circus showman, the touch of a butterfly, a seemingly inexhaustible gallery of catchy haircuts.

As is common with footballers with such a wide range of abilities, there is still some confusion to what exactly he is.

Football is still in the (admittedly lapsing) grip of compartmentalization and, neither fish nor fowl, there is a predilection to indulge him and let him do everything simply because he can. This is a temptation which is too often yielded to within the French national team set-up, as is evident from the just-concluded European Championships, and one which United boss Jose Mourinho would do well to avoid.

Time and again though, this has been proven a bad idea. His best football over the past three years has come with Juventus, first under Antonio Conte, and then under Massimiliano Allegri. Both managers, while fundamentally different in terms of coaching ideology, have the classic Italian managerial savvy, one which recognises that the worst possible way to get the best out of a player like Pogba is to build a team around him.