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In the span of two years, Paul Pogba has gone from youngster with loads of potential to one of the focal points of Juventus' title-winning squad.
And now he's getting a handsome raise because of it.
Juventus announced on Friday morning that Pogba, their 21-year-old French midfield dynamo, has agreed to a contract extension through 2019, ending what had been months of "Will he or won't he sign a new deal?" Juve director general Beppe Marotta ensured that a new deal would get done in due time no matter what was going on in the Italian press. Come Friday, we got word that the much-talked about status of Pogba's has been resolved. And with a bunch of good news to boot.
Marotta: @paulpogba has just renewed his contract with us until 2019.
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 24, 2014
The official, non-Twitter club statement, courtesy of juventus.com:
Juventus Football Club is delighted to announce that Paul Pogba has today put pen to paper on a new contract which keeps him with the club until 2019.
The agreement was confirmed this morning at the club's shareholders' assembly by CEO Giuseppe Marotta, who said: "Before coming here we signed Paul Pogba's contract extension which binds us until 2019."
The raise in annual salary, according to the figures being thrown out there in the last 24 hours or so, seems to be in the neighborhood of €4 million to €4.5 million a season. Gianluca Di Marzio's initial report that stated negotiations had been completed said Pogba will earn €3.5 or €4 million a season. The Corriere Dello Sport's report on Friday that said a deal was done had Pogba's annual salary in the €4.5 million range, which would be one of the highest figures on the current Juventus roster.
Either way, Pogba has officially put pen to paper on a new deal and both sides have clearly won. Pogba gets a shiny new contract, and Juventus locks up one of its most sought after assests. And no matter what he's officially making, he's gotten a well-deserved raise that will keep him in Turin for a good long time.
Noted goalkeeping great and Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon had this to say about Pogba signing an extension during an interview with Sky Sport Italia on Thursday:
"It would be great news for all of us and I hope also for him, because the most beautiful thing is knowing what it means to represent Juventus and be a symbol for such a glorious club. Juventus would also be sending a strong message"
(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)
I agree, San Gigi. Like I said before Arturo Vidal signed his new deal, my stance remains the same for Pogba: Go ahead and give him all the money. It will be worth it.
You just have to wonder if Pogba's new deal will kick into motion all of the other rumored contract extensions within the Juventus squad. Who knows if it will be Buffon, Martín Cáceres, Giorgio Chiellini, Carlos Tévez, Stephan Lichtsteiner, whoever else you want to throw into the mix. Seeing as that's a good portion of Juve's core, I sure hope there's more contract extension posts coming in the next couple of months.
We'll see. But this is about Pogba — and rightfully so.
