It summarises the incredible recent inflation in transfer fees that less than one year on, Paul Pogba's £89 million transfer fee doesn't sound quite so extraordinary.
It is, as things stand, still a world-record fee. But when you witness Chelsea signing a talented but relatively raw striker like Alvaro Morata for £58m, or Manchester City splashing £50m on a decent right-back like Kyle Walker -- not to mention PSG considering spending nearly £200m on Neymar, £89m for a footballer who is among the world's best all-rounders doesn't seem quite so ludicrous anymore.
That world-record fee meant Pogba was inevitably going to be branded as a success or a flop -- with little room in between. Indeed, he ended up being branded a success by the majority of Manchester United fans, and a flop by supporters of every other club.
The truth was somewhere nearer the former. Pogba was generally extremely impressive, running games from midfield and spraying wonderful passes into attack. A few factors -- some disappointing big-game performances, a lack of goals and assists to demonstrate his impact, and United's overall underperformance in finishing sixth -- meant his contribution was overlooked by rival fans.
But Pogba was quietly excellent in his debut campaign. Adjusting to a new league isn't easy -- especially the transition from Serie A to the Premier League, Europe's slowest major division to its quickest. Pogba may have risen through United's academy, but he'd only been used three times in the Premier League before joining Juventus, each time as a substitute. To a certain extent, he was in new surroundings, and the fact his transfer was only completed on the eve of the campaign meant he didn't complete a proper preseason with his new teammates. He was also recovering from the pressure of being France's main man on home soil in Euro 2016 and the agony of narrowly losing in the final to Portugal.
This time around, there are no excuses. Pogba has enjoyed a summer off, a proper preseason and has a year of Premier League experience. Whereas his relationship with Zlatan Ibrahimovic was reasonably impressive last season -- although the Swede tended to waste some of Pogba's best passes with wayward finishes -- he might discover that his close friend Romelu Lukaku suits him much better.
Lukaku will make more runs into the channels to get on the end of Pogba's through-balls, and while the Belgian striker has often been criticized for his lack of link play at Everton, what if Lukaku simply found his teammates too frustrating to bother with regularly? With an onrushing midfielder of Pogba's quality, Lukaku might become a less selfish player, and Pogba could be the major beneficiary.
The main question about Pogba is his precise tactical deployment. Last season Jose Mourinho used him in three separate roles -- as one of the deeper midfielders in a 4-2-3-1, as the No. 10 in that same system, or in more of a box-to-box role in a 4-3-3.
Instinctively it feels like the final position suits Pogba best. This is an all-round midfielder: someone who can cover ground, press and tackle but also someone capable of pushing forward into attack to provide decisive contributions in the final third. His long-range passing is excellent, as is his vision to spot unmarked players on the opposite side of the pitch, enabling him to switch play as effectively as any Manchester United player since Paul Scholes. He's essentially the all-round footballer.
But questions persist about Pogba's tactical discipline. He's not a player who enjoys being given a specific role and staying in that position, and essentially needs freedom to roam the pitch wherever he likes. In that sense, he's actually a fairly "English" footballer in style, someone who brings an "anarchic" sense to the midfield in the mould of a Steven Gerrard, or to cite another non-Englishman who thrived in the Premier League, Cesc Fabregas.
Mourinho likes disciplined players, of course, but with Chelsea he famously tried to sign Gerrard, and later did sign Fabregas. He never entirely worked out how to use Fabregas, however, and essentially had the same dilemma with Pogba -- playing him both in the deep role, and as a No. 10, in a 4-2-3-1.
Pogba's position might be dictated by Manchester United's other players more than anything else. They're currently slightly lacking genuine top-class deep midfielders, especially with Michael Carrick likely to play few games this season, but have a plethora of footballers who can play in advanced positions. Pogba, therefore, might well be deployed primarily in a more withdrawn role.
But to fulfil his potential, Pogba needs to be pushed forward. Somewhere in Pogba there's a prolific midfield goal scorer waiting to break through, and ultimately Manchester United's major problem last season was their lack of goals, particularly in home games against relatively mediocre opposition. In those games, they boast plenty of footballers who can control the tempo of the game and play the initial passes into the final third, but they lack players who can truly make a difference in the final third.
Recent footballing history is littered with players who exploded into regular goal scorers at roughly Pogba's age, 24, having previously lacked that clinical edge in the final third. To justify his talent, and perhaps justify his transfer fee, Pogba needs to be directly winning games -- not merely helping to put United in control. This also means that when it comes to big matches and Mourinho needs two solid players in front of the defence, he doesn't have to completely restructure the side to shift Pogba into a different role.
It remains to be seen whether Mourinho takes this step and pushes Pogba into a more advanced role, but everything seems set for Pogba to take 2017-18 by storm. There used to be an acceptance that foreign imports needed a year to settle into English football --supporters no longer offer that type of patience, but the concept largely still applies. This season should be Pogba's season.