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Patrice Evra has claimed that Manchester United signed Paul Pogba in 2016 to embarrass legendary supervisor Sir Alex Ferguson.
Pogba got here by means of the ranks at United having joined the membership as an especially gifted 16-year-old prospect.
Nonetheless, he controversially left in 2012 after failing to persuade Sir Alex to afford him extra enjoying time within the senior workforce. This led to Pogba leaving United to signal for Juventus as a free agent.
After 4 profitable years in Turin the place he cemented his standing as one in all Europe’s greatest midfielders, the Pink Devils broke the again to carry again the Frenchman in a deal value £89m, a world-record switch payment on the time.
Pogba put pen to paper on a five-year contract. He had some good moments throughout his second spell at Outdated Trafford however the overwhelming sentiment was that he didn’t actually dwell as much as his price ticket and big potential.
Talking on the Persist with Soccer podcast, Evra mentioned that United forked out the cash to land Pogba in a bid to “promote shirts” and “humiliate” Fergie.
Evra remarked, “Manchester United introduced Paul Pogba again as a result of they wished to humiliate Sir Alex Ferguson. I instructed Paul to not return as a result of he wished Actual Madrid and Madrid wished him, however Florentino Pérez didn’t need to pay the cash.”
“His agent referred to as United, and he signed with him with out telling me. The membership was blissful as a result of they have been promoting shirts, the children love Pogba – it was extra business than something on the pitch.”
Evra added, “It’s not about being a giant fan of Paul Pogba, it’s about being his large brother. It’s about defending him. I used to be harsh with him once I joined Juventus.”
“In the future, he mentioned to the press, ‘I should win the Ballon d’Or’. I used to be like, ‘Wait a minute, did you ever hear [Frank] Lampard saying that, did you ever hear [Andrés] Iniesta, Xavi or no matter?’ And, I’m like, ‘Relax, you’re not prepared for that.’”
“With Paul, you see him like that, however inside, he’s not that robust and he’s defending himself, and that’s why I attempted to guard Paul, as a result of generally it [the criticism of him] was unfair. Individuals have been speaking extra about his coiffure or his dancing than judging him on the pitch. Even generally he wasn’t enjoying, they have been saying, ‘United misplaced due to Paul Pogba.’”
Evra insisted that Pogba’s entourage let him down as they may have finished extra to guard him.
One in every of Pogba’s strongest critics at United was former Liverpool man Graeme Souness.
In line with Evra, he had a chat with Souness and the 71-year-old instructed him that he didn’t hate Pogba however was solely “annoyed” by the World Cup winner’s perceived incapacity to carry out properly on a constant foundation.
Evra additional acknowledged that Pogba “felt misplaced” in United’s midfield as he usually needed to cowl for a few of his teammates – one thing that usually left him uncovered and vulnerable to assaults from supporters and the media.
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