Paul Pogba's Manchester United Transfer Discussed by Barcelona's Ariedo Braida

Barcelona sporting director Ariedo Braida has said Paul Pogba's price tag is what prompted the Blaugrana to pull out of the race and allow Manchester United to re-sign the Juventus midfielder.

According to Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t ESPN's Ben Gladwell), Braida discussed Pogba's move to United:

"

Nobody is worth that amount of money. All footballers are overvalued. When you reach such levels, the gap to normality is truly too great.

We're talking about an operation of €150 million, excluding the salary. How must one feel to be overvalued? Probably they don't think about it, otherwise they would not be able to play. The pressure must be enormous.

"

The Red Devils reportedly paid a world-record £89 million transfer fee to reacquire his services.

Braida also elaborated on the pressure such a fee could bring with it:

"

I think the financial aspect is more than sufficient. Pogba will manage to show his worth at Manchester and there is no doubting his technical quality, but if each game you play is not amazing then you're going to be criticised.

When people read such figures, they expect you to win everything by yourself, but it's not possible. Certain figures really shock me.

"

He has a point—usually, the more a player costs, the quicker supporters expect him to jell with his team-mates and the better they expect him to play each week.

Pogba is an exceptional talent and has developed significantly in his four years at Juventus, but as talismanic as he became for the Bianconeri, he has perhaps never been under such pressure to perform.

Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images

There was a great deal of focus placed on him at UEFA Euro 2016, where he put in several largely underwhelming performances.

Football journalist Rafael Hernandez believes the Red Devils got a good deal, though:

Indeed, according to BBC Sport's Simon Stone, Pogba's fee is just 17.8 per cent of the £500 million United are expected to announce as their year's revenue in September.

Rio Ferdinand's move from Leeds United cost the Red Devils almost 20 per cent of their annual revenue, while United legends Bryan Robson and Denis Law cost them 56.6 per cent and 61.4 per cent, respectively.

When looked at in the context of how much money United are pulling in, Pogba's fee does not seem quite so extraordinary.

Even Barcelona, for all their success and global following, do not enjoy the Premier League's television revenue and only received half of what they were hoping for from their shirt-sponsorship extension with Qatar Airways, according to football journalist Dermot Corrigan.

Now the deal comes down to how well Pogba can perform on the pitch and if Jose Mourinho can develop him even further.

If the 23-year-old is able to play a key role in restoring United to the winning ways they enjoyed under Sir Alex Ferguson, the club—and most likely the fans—will consider it money well spent.