Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has described how things went wrong for him in his first spell at Old Trafford and how he had his “heart broken” by former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The France international had a spell at Man Utd as a youngster but barely got on the pitch for the first-team before leaving for Juventus, where he really made his name as a world class talent.
This prompted the Red Devils to spend big on bringing Pogba back to Old Trafford in 2016, by which time Ferguson had already retired from football management.
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It’s certainly a shame we never got to see Pogba playing under Ferguson, with the Scot perhaps more of an ideal coach for him than Jose Mourinho or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The 27-year-old could have suited those old United sides a lot better than this current version, but it wasn’t to be as Fergie for some reason overlooked him.
Speaking about the situation to the Daily Mirror, Pogba said: “It was a very difficult decision for me, with the manager as well and everything with the contract,” said Pogba.
“It wasn’t the contract, but more like the trust with the manager. Obviously, the manager, for me, is still the best manager in history.
“When they asked me to sign the contract, if I didn’t sign, a lot of things happened. I didn’t train, I went back to training by myself and stuff like this.
“It made me a bit angry and was nothing about the money. I just wanted to play football. That’s all I want. I want to play.
“When I had the chance to play or come on against Blackburn, that’s when really I had heartbreak.
“There was no midfield. People were injured, Paul Scholes wasn’t there, I think he’d retired already and it was before he came back.
“Rafael played in midfield with Ji-sung Park and I didn’t come on.
“The manager has a choice in everything but that day is when I had my heart broken.
“So I went to Juventus, which was a hard decision for me. Hard, because it was going to another club as well, where I was obviously not one of the starting line-up.
“But I came as a young, talented player and you have to show yourself again. I went and it was a big challenge for me.
“To be honest, it was one thing: I will show them [United] they should have put me in the team. That was one very important point. I wanted to show them and the world.”