Rio Ferdinand, former Red Devils’ defender, has revealed that all his teammates were shocked when Paul Pogba had left Old Trafford to sign for Juventus, back in 2012. The Frenchman’s return to Manchester United however looks imminent.
Since his move to Juventus as a free agent four years back, Pogba has gone on to become one of the most highly rated midfielders in the world of football. Now however, the Frenchman looks poised to become the most expensive player in the world, with Juventus demanding £100 million for their star midfielder.
Both Real Madrid and Manchester United are said to have been chasing the 23-year old’s signature in this year’s summer transfer window. However, different media reports have claimed that Real Madrid are not willing to shell out more than £60 million for Pogba, which puts the Red Devils in pole position to land the Frenchman’s signature.
Manchester United, in turn, are said to have agreed to Juventus’ £100 million demand for Pogba, and are reportedly close to signing the Frenchman.
Rio Ferdinand, who himself was once the most expensive defender in the world after completing a £30 million switch from Leeds to Manchester United, wrote in his column in The Times, that all his teammates at Old Trafford were shocked that Pogba had taken the bold move of leaving the Red Devils.
“After he trained, not a player in that Manchester United first team disagreed [about Pogba’s quality]. Everyone was sold on Paul Pogba,” wrote Ferdinand. “When he left United every player was saying, ‘What the hell is going on?’ But he came to a decision to leave and sometimes these things happen in football.”
“His self-belief in quitting United for Juventus showed his confidence in his ability, and that belief is actually a positive thing. It comes from a drive to improve himself,” Ferdinand added.
Manchester United have been especially poor last season, with their midfield failing to link up with the forwards in a proper manner. Although the Red Devils enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession in most of the matches, they largely failed to penetrate their opponents’ defence.
The addition of Paul Pogba could help in improving the Manchester United midfield, as the French star has shown that he has most of the attributes to make him a complete midfielder. Pogba’s creativity has been beyond any doubt ever since his early days as a teenager at the Manchester United academy.
However, what makes him a complete player is that he has the ability to operate in deep roles as a defensive midfielder as well. In fact, Pogba won more tackles (55) than any of the Manchester United midfielders last season. The Juventus man also has an immense physical presence, both inside the box and outside it, and had won almost 65 percent of his aerial duels last season.
