The one that got away for Manchester United
In his 26 years at Manchester United, I’m sure Sir Alex Ferguson doesn’t hold many regrets, but his failure to keep Paul Pogba at the club may be one.
At the time Pogba was a rising talent coming through the United youth ranks. As any other young player, Pogba wanted to play, but for whatever reason Sir Alex felt he wasn’t ready. Despite some spectacular goals for the reserves, he was limited to cup games, and Pogba’s contract was quickly running down.
United realising this, tried to get the Frenchman to resign, especially with Manchester City sniffing around. But Pogba stuck to his guns. He was leaving and there was nothing United could do.
The question became – where to?
Who would he join? Everyone inside Old Trafford would have been hoping it wasn’t Manchester City and to their relief it wasn’t. On the 27th of July, he signed for Serie A giants Juventus and slotted straight into a midfield with Andrea Pirlo in it.
With Pirlo another recent purchase, many thought that Pogba would be limited to the bench and reserve team football again, but that wasn’t the case. A year later, Pogba has made 27 appearances and is an established star in Serie A. Sitting next to Andrea Pirlo in midfield, he has shown all the range of skills that now has him coveted all around the world.
The British press has reported both Arsenal and Manchester City are after the midfielder. He has the engine to play box to box, and has a very useful shot on him as well, as the video shows. His physical presence reminds you of Yaya Toure and is perhaps why he is on City’s radar.
Juventus got a great deal when they got Pogba on a free. The fees being branded around by the press is around £20 million, but really why would you sell?
If Pogba continues in this form then soon he could be one of the best midfielders in the world and worth at least double that. Either way, it would be win-win for the Serie A champions.
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