Manchester United is set to break the transfer record this summer with the acquisition of Paul Pogba from Juventus.

The French star is set to cost around $110 million, which would eclipse the $100 million that Real Madrid spent on Gareth Bale back in 2013.

Pogba of course has been hailed as a brilliant box-to-box midfielder capable of changing a game with his searing creativity and physicality. At just 23 years of age, he is still years away from his prime, which must be making mouths at United salivate. Throw in the fact that Pogba will be feeding the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and you have a sure-fire win on your hands.

Or do they? Is Pogba really worth the record-breaking price that United is willing to pay for his services?

What he brings

Pogba can play deep in the midfield in a more defensive role or works best higher up the pitch creating chances for his team. He is not only a provider but also a goalscorer in his own right. He scored eight times for Juventus this season while setting up another eight goals; he also had eight goals in the Italian league a year ago and seven the year before. He actually has more goals over the past few years than he does assists according to WhoScored.

He is a pretty solid dribbler, averaging 2.2 dribbles per game throughout his career; that trend has been increasing over the past few years with Pogba emerging into an adept force on the ball. He was actually third best in the Serie A this season in that department.

He also create a great deal of opportunities for himself, taking around 3.5 shots per game; among the top 10 in the Serie A in this category, Pogba was third and one of two players that were not forwards.

His shortcomings

He is a solid all-around player with good speed and ball control but Pogba is far from elite at any one thing. He is never going to be a 30-goal scorer; he might never even hit 20 in a season. He probably does not create more than 15 assists per season.

He is not even among the elite in creating chances for his teammates, ranking 24th in the Italian league in key passes per game.

Even his much vaunted defense is not elite either. He is solid defensively ranking in the top 50 in tackles per game but does not even figure into the top 100 when it comes to interceptions.

Then come the intangibles. Pogba has been great at Juventus but his national team performance in the Euro left a lot to be desired. He virtually disappeared in the big bad final, managing just one shot and one dribble in the entire game. He scored once in the tournament as well and was invisible for large portions of the tournament as his side went all the way to the wire.

Conclusion

As with all of these purchases, potential plays a huge role and Manchester is anticipating that he will grow into an elite all-around midfielder for them. But there is no current indication that he will be truly elite at any one thing and this could end up being a huge waste of money for player that has yet to truly prove himself.

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