Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that he had a tough job in convincing Paul Pogba to join the Old Trafford club this summer. Records tumbled when the French midfielder made a £ 89.3m move from Juventus to the Premier League in August as he returned to the club where he spent three years as a youth product.
The Portuguese manager confirmed that both United and ‘another big club’ were interested in securing his services. But ultimately, it was the Red Devils who got their man and the 23-year-old put pen to paper on a five-year deal that will see him stay at the club until 2021.
Trending
Speaking about the negotiations before the transfer, Mourinho admitted that it took some time before Pogba made up his mind.
“Oh! It was hard to convince him,” Mourinho said, according to Goal. “I had many [conversations] on the phone, lots of SMS.
“I think he was getting one in the morning from the manager from another big club and one in the afternoon from myself,” he continued. “I had to try hard to convince him to choose us instead of the other one.”
Real Madrid were also heavily linked with a move for Pogba this summer and reports claimed Pogba was interested in moving to La Liga and play under compatriot Zinedine Zidane. The four-time Serie A champion wanted a move to Madrid but his agent Mino Raiola was pushing for a move to Manchester United because they were ready to pay a higher price.
Ultimately, even without the prospect of playing Champions League football this season, United managed to outbid Real Madrid and Mourinho convinced Pogba to join United for the long haul. Pogba even came out and said, “I didn't finish what I started here,” referring to his free transfer from United following disagreements with former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Champions League is not the same without Manchester United: Mourinho
Mourinho will be leading his new-look United side in the Europa League this season after the team finished fifth in the Premier League last season under former manager Louis van Gaal. And the Portuguese boss feels the tournament is not the same without the three-time winners.
“The Champions League without Manchester United is not the Champions League,” he said. “And Manchester United without the Champions League is not Manchester United.”
“So this is the first big step. But to get back to the Champions League we need to do well in the Premier League, so the first step is to recover the self-esteem, which I think we are doing.”
Apart from Pogba, United made some other big-money signings such as Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan while Zlatan Ibrahimovic was signed on a free transfer. The club made a good start to the league campaign, winning the first three games, before a 2-1 loss to Manchester City in the derby over the weekend.
United will face Feyenoord in their first match of the Europa League group stage on Thursday night. The match is scheduled to kick off at 10:30 PM IST.
