Jose Mourinho defends Manchester United’s £89m Paul Pogba fee

Jose Mourinho has defended the reported £89m transfer fee Manchester United are set to pay for Paul Pogba but did admit football has become "crazy".

The Old Trafford club are on the brink of bringing the French midfielder back to Manchester for a world record fee after Juventus confirmed that they had allowed him to undertake a medical ahead of the proposed move.

 However, speaking after his side beat Leicester 2-1 to win the Community Shield at Wembley, Mourinho said the club should be proud they could attract players like Pogba and compared it to Gareth Bale's record-breaking move to Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2013.


"I don't think Real Madrid were upset when they broke the record with Gareth Bale. I don't think it is a reason to be sad," he said. "It is a reason to be proud with the dimension of the club that can do that and can attract players of this dimension.
"If you ask me if I think it is a lot of money, I think football is crazy, the market has become crazy. 

"What you think this season is crazy you realise three years later is not crazy anymore. I think there are players who cost £10m who are super expensive because they are players £400,000 or £500,000 or £1m so what is expensive and not expensive in football? I don't know anymore.
"I just know he is a big player that is going, for sure, to be important for a big club like Man United."

 Mourinho also believes that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will become even more prolific as the team adapts to a new style of play after the striker scored an 83rd-minute header to win the Wembley tie on Sunday after Jamie Vardy had cancelled out Jesse Lingard's opener.