BARCELONA - Jose Mourinho does not believe that a fee of almost £200m is too ‘expensive’ a price for Neymar, as the Barcelona forward prepares to complete a record-breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Manchester United made Paul Pogba the world’s most expensive footballer less than a year ago, yet already the £89.3m paid to Juventus last August is set to be trumped.
Despite condemnation of the move in some quarters, Mourinho believes the £198m price is a fair reflection of Neymar’s talent, but nevertheless fears that the move will further inflate the transfer market.
“When we paid that amount for Paul [Pogba] I said that he was not expensive,” Mourinho said after United’s 2-1 pre-season friendly win over Sampdoria in Dublin.
“Expensive are the ones that get into a certain level without a certain quality. I think with Neymar it is going to happen the same. I don't think he’s expensive for £200m.
“I think he’s expensive for the fact that you are going to have more players of £100m and more players of £80m and more players of £60m,” he added.