Paul Pogba Reported Transfer Fee Sparks Reaction from Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has weighed in on the potential record-breaking deal that could take Paul Pogba to Manchester United, dubbing the move "completely crazy." 

Mattias Karen of ESPN FC reported the deal is expected to cost the Red Devils £100 million if it goes through and provided quotes from Wenger, who admitted the figures can be justified by those who can afford the sums involved:

"

It is completely crazy if you cannot afford to pay it. If you can afford to pay it you can justify it. It is completely crazy if you compare it to normal life. That is for sure. But we live in a world where every activity that is worldwide makes a lot of money.

Football has become a worldwide competition and that is why clubs can afford to do it. Does it make sense in the way the player can give you that investment back? Nobody ever could calculate.

"

Wenger went on to say he has always thought it impossible for the transfer record to keep rising, noting he is "always wrong" before teasing the idea of it rising to a financial figure of "200, 300 [million]" in the years to come.

What's even more incredible is United would be paying the potential nine-figure sum for a player they let leave for just an £800,000 compensation fee in 2012, and it's possible he could break the current transfer record by a huge distance:

United have already splashed out on Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer, while free signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic will earn a gargantuan £200,000 a week at Old Trafford, per the Telegraph's Chris Bascombe.

Even some United supporters may side with Wenger in admitting a deal to re-sign Pogba could ultimately prove bad value, although SuperSport's Colin Udoh cited a report from Yahoo claiming the deal may be more easily funded than first realised:

Sponsorship consultant James Melville claimed United could have the Pogba deal paid for just from two weeks' worth of sold Ibrahimovic jerseys, per Yahoo's Jamie Spencer.

However, Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri moved to debunk that theory, more recently acknowledging that clubs only take a minor percentage fee from every shirt sold:

Any way one looks at it, the deal reportedly taking Pogba back to Old Trafford this summer is a major risk for United, but there's a chance the player could prove worthy of the record price tag in the long run.

That being said, Arsenal fans need not expect their club to replicate that kind of outlay anytime soon, based on their manager's reaction to the move.