Gareth Bale vs. Paul Pogba: Is Juventus Midfielder Worth 200 Million Euros?

Gareth Bale will cost Real Madrid 100 million euros. The price will likely set the market price for a number of other major stars. One of those seems to be Juventus star Paul Pogba.

According to ESPN, Pogba's agent Mino Raiola has put his client's price on par with an "artistic masterpiece."

"[Pogba] is worth more than Bale," Raiola said, according to ESPN. "If the Welshman is worth 100 million, then Balotelli and Pogba are worth twice as much. And if Mario is the Mona Lisa, Paul is without doubt a Salvatore Dali in terms of how precious and important he is."

"With all respect for Bale, Pogba is better," Raiola continued. "[Real Madrid president] Florentino Perez has set Pogba's price by buying Bale. Let's be clear, it's not me valuing him, it's Real Madrid and the laws of the transfer market which dictate that Pogba is worth €200 million."

Is Raiola's argument valid? Obviously bias plays a major factor in his reasoning, but an analysis of statistics yields some interesting answers.

The 20-year-old currently plays for Juventus and put up five goals in 28 matches during the 2012-13 season. He has garnered two caps with the French national side and led the French U-20 club to the U-20 World Cup championship this past summer. He also won the Serie A with Juventus last season.

Bale scored 42 goals in 146 appearances for Tottenham from 2007-13 and has never had any major success on the international level with Wales. In fact, he has never played in a major competition aside from the Europa League and has never won any major trophy with his club or country. However, unlike Pogba's France, Wales is not known for having a plethora of soccer talent. It is also essential to note that prior to the 2012-13 season Bale never scored more than nine goals in the Premier League; he scored 21 in 2012-13. Moreover, he never topped 12 goals in all competitions in a given season until he scored 26 last season. Madrid is essentially paying 100 million euros for one good season.

Pogba is four years younger than Bale and the comment is obviously a bit exaggerated. However, if Pogba reproduces similar seasons to those displayed by Bale in the next four years, it may not be inconceivable that the French phenom could pick up a fair share of money in coming years.