When 21 year old Paul Pogba left Manchester United in the summer of 2012 he had made just a handful of starts for the first team.The talk around Old Trafford was that Paul was a talented, versatile midfielder, but like Ravel Morrison before him he didn’t work hard enough to cement a place in United’s first team. Like Sir Alex, I had a pair of blinkers on when it came to Paul Pogba; I never saw anything in his performances that would cause me to worry, as I saw it should Pogba be sold there was absolutely no chance United would come to regret it…I was wrong.
After Pogba was sold to Juventus in July 2012 reports of his contract dispute became general knowledge and a media storm followed. The tabloids wanted to know everything about this misfit who dared to challenge United’s hierarchy, and it could have gone one of two ways for Pogba, career meltdown or reinvention.
Since leaving United for Juventus I can only applaud Pogba for the fantastic footballer he has become. He has gone from a player who only made only seven substitute appearances for United, to a key part of both the Juventus and French national teams, winning back to back Serie A titles and the award for the best young player in last summer’s World Cup. Too put it bluntly, Pogba has worked his arse off. At Juventus he is a leader who is creative and powerful in possession, he’s a different player to the one who left Old Trafford in the summer of 2012 and that’s thanks to Juve alone.
If reports are to be believed Paul Pogba is hot property for Chelsea, Arsenal and his former club Manchester United. With a move to the Premier League looking more and more likely in the summer. But Pogba’s team mate, Andrea Pirlo, has told Manchester United to forget about re-signing the player,
“For whatever reasons they chose not to give him a chance – and that is a mistake they will have to live with now,” Pirlo told Telefoot.
“I can’t see that he (Pogba) will ever return to Manchester United.”
Despite Andrea Pirlo’s comments if the reported £80 million fee is to be believed there is always a chance that Paul Pogba could return to Old Trafford in the summer. Football is about money (to an extent) and if the figure is right who knows where Pogba might find himself. I suppose it depends on the player where he ends up, and he’s odds on to make a Premier League return. But the question remains does Pogba feel the United chapter of his career is now closed, or does he still remember the reason he signed for United in the first place?
One reply on “The reinvention of Paul Pogba: from United to Juventus and maybe back again?”
At a time when United was struggling (and still is) to get a strong midfield together, the hierarchy managed to let the nearest thing to a young Roy Keane walk away from the club.
Not their finest hour.