Paul Pogba: Will Selling the Phenom Benefit Juventus More Than Keeping Him?

Paul Pogba has hit the stratosphere.

The 21-year-old Frenchman has always been on the soccer world's radar since he emphatically announced his presence at Juventus with two insane long-range goals against Udinese. Such occurrences have become so common that Juve fans have even given the phenomenon a name: Pogboom.

Between those goals, Pogba has developed as a wonderfully complete box-to-box midfielder. He is sure on the tackle and combines exquisitely with his teammates in the attacking third. Then there's his dribbling ability, which is already top-tier. On Sunday against Chievo, he effortlessly disposed of a trio of defenders before calmly continuing the attack.

The run of form he's been on is stunning. He's scored in each of his last four games—three in the league and one in the Coppa Italia—and that doesn't even begin to chronicle his complete dominance in the middle of the field. It's no wonder the richest teams in the world have begun circling, ready to pounce at any willingness Juve might show to sell their newest star.

Club director Giuseppe Marotta has repeatedly said that Juventus does not see themselves as a selling club and that he sees no glaring need to sell Pogba. He is, however, a realist when it comes to the team's finances and said as late as a week ago that while it would be inaccurate to say that a sale of Pogba is imminent, it's still not out of the realm of possibility.

Keeping Pogba—who within the next few years will likely be firmly planted in the conversation of best player in the world—would of course be a boon for Juventus. A player like him can be built around and become the linchpin to competing on all levels. However, if the club swallows its pride and lets go of the French phenomenon, it could be even more beneficial.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

The numbers that have been flying around have been astronomical. In post-match comments to Sky Sport Italia (reported by ESPN FC) on Sunday, Massimiliano Allegri admitted that an offer of €100 million or greater would be difficult to turn down.

Indeed, nine figures would be a difficult number for any club to turn down, especially one in Juve's situation. The Bianconeri are the financial titans of Italy, thanks to some prudent moves and their palatial, club-owned stadium.

They stand to consolidate this standing when the ambitious Continassa building project is complete two or three years from now. Unfortunately, the realities of the Italian economic crisis prevent them from paying the transfer fees—and more importantly the wages—of the players that are regularly snapped up by the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Juve is currently in the second tier of European teams talented enough to win the Champions League in a given year if everything goes right—but only if everything goes right. If they build right, they can get themselves into the first tier alongside the likes of Bayern, Real, Chelsea and Barcelona, but it will take years of buying one piece at a time combined with shrewd use of their youth academy.

Selling Pogba would change that. The astronomical sum he would command—and given his youth and the fact that he still has room to improve, he could end up commanding more than the €100 million than Gareth Bale garnered a year ago—could be rolled back into the team to pump up Juve's roster all in one go.

Skeptical? Don't be. This team has a history of doing exactly that.

In 2001, Zinedine Zidane was probably the best footballer in the world. Juve had won two scudetti and made two Champions League finals in his five years with the team. Zidane had won the Ballon d'Or and—in the days before the accolades were merged—two FIFA World Player of the Year awards, along with Man of the Match in France's World Cup final victory in 1998.

Claudio Villa/ Grazia Neri/Getty Images

Having him in the squad was a boon, but the team had scuffled in his last years and needed to rebuild. When the Bianconeri were presented with a then-record €75 million offer by Real Madrid, they could not say no. Zidane went to Spain and the Bianconeri used the proceeds from the sale to sign Lilian Thuram, Pavel Nedved and Gianluigi Buffon.

That group saw the team win two more league titles (plus the two that were stripped due to the Calciopoli scandal) and make the Champions League quarterfinal three times—including a penalty-kick loss to AC Milan in the 2002 final.  

Calciopoli derailed the progress of the club right as the group was hitting its prime. Who knows what else they could have done had their forced relegation not caused a mass sell-off and planted the seeds of the financial problems that manifested in the back-to-back seventh-place finishes before the arrival of Antonio Conte.

As painful as it would be to sell such a talented and popular player, Juventus could significantly accelerate the team's efforts to return to the ranks of Europe's elite.

History is behind them here. Juve have been titans in Italy the last three-and-a-half years, but their squad is far from complete, especially if European glory is the ultimate goal.

Pogba's stock may never be so high. Losing him will be painful, but Juve is in a unique situation in this scenario since their midfield is so deep that none of the proceeds from Pogba's sale would need to be used to sign a direct replacement.

If they do this, they can accelerate a rebuilding operation that, thanks to Marotta's deft transfer moves and Conte's exquisite coaching, is already years ahead of schedule.

With a stroke of the pen, Marotta can turn a free transfer into almost €100 million and then use it to improve the entire team. If an offer like that comes through, Juventus would be irresponsible not to accept.