FIFA, having already had all the necessary documentation regarding the Manchester United purchase of Paul Pogba from Juventus this past summer, decided to open a new inquest into the deal.
Why? I don’t know? How come former American FBI Director James Comey (who was the #1 world news story on Tuesday when he was fired by President Donald Trump) decided to re-open the Hillary Clinton investigation right before the election in November, after it was already resolved in the summer?
When something is done, why bring it back up again unless something major happens? Why bring up the record setting Paul Pogba deal from the summer again, unless there is something earth-shattering to discuss?
English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke gave an interview to the BBC in which he referred to the FIFA inquest into the £89.3m, $115m, 105m Euro deal as “not that helpful” and a “knee jerk reaction.”
“If that’s what they’re going to pay, that’s what they’re going to pay,” Clarke told BBC Sport. “They are accountable to their owners, they’re accountable to their fans.
“How much should we pay for players? How much should go to agents as a commercial transaction? If football wants to change that and limit the amount of money that agents get we’re going to have to sit down as a game, led by the professional game, the Premier League and the EFL and the clubs and talk about that.”
“I just think picking on one transfer and demonising it is not that helpful. Knee-jerk reactions don’t often yield good outcomes. What we want is some thought about how much money stays in the game so it can be invested in long-term productive things.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube