Paul Pogba Man Utd Juventus GFXGetty/GOAL

Pogback! Can Man Utd flop really rescue his club career at Juventus?

In July 2016, Massimiliano Allegri issued a warning that was clearly intended for Paul Pogba.

"Anyone who has the opportunity to leave Juventus has to consider things very carefully because, right now, Juve are among the top four European clubs," the Bianconeri boss stated.

Sadly, that warning went unheeded.

Article continues below

Even though Pogba's then-agent Mino Raiola had always insisted that his client would only leave Juve at the right time, for the "right project" and the "right team", he instead joined Jose Mourinho's Manchester United.

Essentially, Raiola and Pogba could not have got the most important move of the midfielder's career more wrong.

There were sentimental considerations, of course. Pogba hadn't really wanted to leave United for Juventus in 2012. He felt "Mancunian". He wanted to prove himself at Old Trafford.

So, he was "shocked" by the way in which talks over a renewal collapsed, with Raiola and then-United manager Sir Alex Ferguson clashing during a decisive meeting over the midfielder's future.

Raiola later admitted in an Amazon Prime documentary that he deemed United's offer derisory, telling Ferguson, "For this money, my chihuahua would not walk on the grass of the training centre!"

The Scot's subsequent retirement thus facilitated Pogba's return four years later; but it also doomed it to failure.

Who will win the Premier League title?

47851 Votes