Paul Pogba has opened up about his rather fraught and at times bewildering relationship with former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, following his departure from the club.
In his new Amazon documentary called ‘The Pogmentary’ the Frenchman laid bare why he felt the relationship between himself and his former manager was damaged beyond repair.
In one of the episodes, Pogba labelled Manchester United’s contract offer reported to be in the region of £290,000 a week as ‘nothing’, as well as claiming United “made a mistake” by not agreeing a new contract to extend his stint in Manchester.
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The relationship between Mourinho and Pogba was originally filled with confidence on both sides that they would push each other to success.
After a Europa League win in 2017, it looked like this was going to be a fruitful partnership, driving United back to the summit of English football.
One of the most debated topics during Pogba’s underwhelming stint in Manchester has been his fraught relationship with the Portuguese, especially after such a promising start.
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Pogba claims it was the treatment of his injury problems in the early months of Mourinho’s second season, which laid the groundwork for a breaking down of the relationship.
“It started when I got injured,” Pogba admitted. “I said I was going to Miami to do rehabilitation. A paparazzi took a photo of Zulay (his wife) and me.
“Jose sent the picture to Mino (Raiola). I didn’t like that at all. He said 'he’s on holiday when we are working like f*ck'. I told Mourinho, 'are you serious? I’m injured. I train three times a day here. Who do you think I am?' It was new to me to have a issue with my coach.”
The seeds of doubt were set despite a good end of the season, which included two goals against Manchester City to deny them the title, well for the time being at least.
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Pogba went away and famously won the World Cup in Russia, capped off with a fantastic goal against Croatia in the final.
Not everyone was as pleased with the Frenchman’s efforts, with Mourinho saying the World Cup was “the perfect habitat for a player like him (Pogba) to thrive”, this naturally stoked the fire of an already tense relationship between the pair.
Perhaps the nadir of the pairs relationship and indeed Mourinho’s time in Manchester was the rather public fallout they had.
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In an open training session for United in late 2018, Mourinho looks like he says something to Pogba, which seemed to leave the French midfielder looking bewildered, before Pogba looks to bite back to whatever Mourinho said.
As Pogba departs for a return to Juventus, perhaps this is a perfect paradigm of United’s problems with recruitment over the last few years with the Frenchman struggling to fit into the United side.
There was an almost weekly debate about the Frenchman’s best position and what the club should do to get the best out of him.
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Pogba’s problems echoes that of Donny van de Beek’s who in turn has struggled to adapt and fit in at Old Trafford.
A return to Juventus, leaving behind more questions than answers, Pogba has his reputation damaged after his uninspiring stint in England. It just didn't work out.
Topics: Jose Mourinho, Paul Pogba, Manchester United, Football, Europa League, AS Roma, Juventus, Premier League
Shaun Webbley