Pogba is perfect for Man United
United's plodding midfield requires urgent injection of energy
Jose Mourinho took a moment to bask in the afterglow of a successful transfer window.
The Manchester United manager pointed out that he had signed "one defender, one midfielder, one striker (and) one creative".
In all four instances, he might have been referring to Paul Pogba.
As the French midfielder signs off on every zero in his gargantuan contract, his value to his new club cannot be understated.
Pogba isn't the final piece of the jigsaw. He's several pieces, filling holes faster than a trigger-happy tradesman with a silicone gun.
Mourinho was speaking after collecting his first piece of United silverware yesterday morning (Singapore time), but the Community Shield only reiterated Pogba's potential worth to the club.
A cynic might suggest that the 23-year-old's greedy agent, Mino Raiola, delayed final negotiations until after the meandering curtain raiser at Wembley, where United beat Leicester City 2-1.
United's plodding midfield and obvious lack of attacking impetus only strengthened Raiola's hand.
The Red Devils' major weaknesses happen to be Pogba's strengths.
He's a one-stop shop for Mourinho's needs, a French pharmacy for his side's obvious ailments.
United's manager tried to brush off the grotesque £93.2 million ($164m) figure that will secure Pogba's signature, but his argument that the fee merely reflects football's "crazy industry" was a cop-out, particularly when he had a ready-made defence for the outlay.
Pogba could prove to be a bargain.
Against Leicester City, United had an extra body in midfield - five against four - but played as if they were a man down.
Neither Michael Carrick nor Marouane Fellaini was expected to feature prominently in Mourinho's thinking and did little at Wembley to change their manager's mind.
United's lack of pace was alarming, with Fellaini, Carrick and Wayne Rooney forming a ragged triangle of wheezing warriors, staggering across the vast Wembley turf in search of a telling pass or a time machine.
Louis van Gaal still casts a long shadow. Mourinho inherited a cautious team with brittle bones, programmed to keep possession with five-yard passes.
Last season, United found the net just 49 times, the only time in EPL history that they failed to reach a half-century. They played safe and lost their way.
Pogba offers an antidote to such creative apathy. The fearless Frenchman never errs on the side of caution. A rare, box-to-box dynamo, he genuinely believes he's in a risky business.
He's always willing to lose face if it means willing the game with a decisive tackle, charge, pass or strike. Each move is a calculated, but positive gamble.
For three years, United's midfield was a clash of the crustaceans, with crab-like footballers stuck in their shells and moving sideways.
DEFENSIVE
Mourinho's football invariably veers on the defensive, with Eric Bailly's encouraging performance at Wembley ticking a vital box, but the manager's success depends on sudden, swift counter-attacks, where freedom of movement is briefly tolerated.
He likes mavericks with muscle, puppeteers who penetrate rather than dance around on the periphery, which is why Juan Mata's substitution after coming on as a substitute at Wembley suggests the end is nigh for the Spaniard.
Van Gaal overloaded his United squad with lightweight, fleet-footed wizards, the kind of player Mourinho instinctively distrusts.
Whether it's Claude Makelele, Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso or Nemanja Matic, Mourinho's most effective sides thrive with versatile, combative midfielders who win and distribute the ball quickly through the transitional phase.
His box-to-box enforcers terrorise rather than tap dance, equally adept at either throwing their weight about or playing the right through-ball.
United just do not have a player of such calibre and it's impossible to win a title without one. Just ask Arsenal. Premier League medals inevitably go to men like N'Golo Kante, Matic and Yaya Toure.
So Pogba's presence would prove pivotal. He's the missing link at Old Trafford, the kind of tenacious midfield craftsman not seen around the place since Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves (both Champions League winners).
More pertinently in the short term, the Frenchman will introduce an element of creative risk and physical aggression, qualities that went AWOL in van Gaal's cast of The Walking Dead and were rarely spotted at Wembley.
Paying £93.2m for a footballer who left in a huff four years ago for free is undoubtedly scandalous.
But the prospect of Pogba's United looking like the old United could be priceless.
Mourinho: United perfect for Pogba
Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United will prove the perfect place for Paul Pogba to become the best player on the planet, with the Juventus midfielder on the verge of returning to Old Trafford for a reported world-record fee.
United confirmed on Sunday afternoon that the France international has been given the green light to undergo a medical, as his proposed switch back to the Red Devils edges closer.
According to reports, the deal could be worth £93.2 million ($164m), beating the estimated £85m that Real Madrid paid Tottenham for Gareth Bale in 2013.
The Premier League club released a short statement saying the 23-year-old "has been granted permission to have a medical in order to finalise his transfer from Juventus to Manchester United" - alongside the hashtag 'POGBACK'.
United added that the medical would take place at their AON training complex and, after beating Leicester 2-1 to win the Community Shield on Sunday, Mourinho said that the move could propel the player to greatness.
"United are the perfect club to bring him to the level he wants to be," said Mourinho, who expects Pogba to complete the deal by today.
"The Premier League is the perfect habitat for that. If you want to be the best player in the world, if you go to Barcelona or Real Madrid, you are in trouble because I don't think the other two big guys (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) will let you.
INCREDIBLE
"Here, he is in the most seen, worldwide, championship which is absolutely incredible, with a team which want to bring Manchester United to the top again. We have everything to give him and we know the reasons why he wants to come to us.
"Money he would get at any big club. He comes because he knows the club, knows the city, many of the players and wants to be an important part of the project. Hopefully, everything goes well."
Mourinho said he could not confirm the price tag, but does not believe it is an issue.
"I don't think Real were upset when they broke the record with Bale or Ronaldo. I don't think it's a reason to be sad - it's a reason to be proud," he said.
"Football is crazy and the market has become crazy. What you think this season is crazy, you realise three years later it's not crazy any more.
"There are players who cost £10m who are super expensive because they're players (who are worth) £500,000 or £1m. What is expensive and not expensive in football? I don't know any more. I just know he is a big player."
The Italian champions played West Ham in a friendly on Sunday to mark the opening of the London Stadium.
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri seemed resigned to losing Pogba, having previously claimed the player was due back at training yesterday.
After his side's 3-2 win over the Hammers, Allegri said: "I spoke about Pogba the day before. We have just finished a match and I don't know much more.
"We will see tomorrow (Monday) if he is a still Juventus player."
Pogba was giving little away when he wrote on Twitter: "When too many people talk nobody understands... talk very soon." - PA Sport.
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