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Paul Pogba has admitted that he “wasn’t mentally there” during the latter stages of his Manchester United career and he tried to leave, but his exit was blocked by Ed Woodward.
Pogba left United as a free agent in the summer of 2022, six years after he returned for a then-world record £89million transfer fee.
The Frenchman made 233 appearances for United after re-joining the club from Juventus. He arrived at Old Trafford with great expectations but he never really lived up to his billing.
Inconsistencies, off-the-pitch troubles and injuries prevented Pogba from really living up to his potential at United.
In a sit-down with The Mail’s Sami Mokbel, Pogba indicated that the 2018/19 season – under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – was his best period at the club. During this period, Solskjaer took over mid-campaign from Jose Mourinho who was sacked after a string of poor performances and results.
The World Cup winner registered an impressive 16 goals and 11 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions.
However, according to Pogba, he wanted to leave United after the season but Woodward blocked his departure. The midfielder ended up staying for an additional three years.
Pogba revealed to Mokbel, “I will tell you something I’ve never told anyone.”
“The year Jose went and Ole came, it was my best season at United but after the last game I told Ole and Ed Woodward that I thought it was my last year and that I wanted to leave.”
“I was 27 back then, it didn’t work out the way I wanted. I gave my best but I didn’t see the club going upwards.”
“Manchester City and Liverpool were better than us and they were improving. Ole said yes (to me leaving) and that he would talk to Ed. My head was already that I wanted to go but I came back for pre-season because I wanted to be professional.”
He added, “I spoke to Ed to try to make a move but he blocked it. I didn’t want to play for United anymore but I had to be professional. Mentally I wasn’t there and then I got the injuries.
Pogba went back to Juventus in 2022 but his time there was dogged by injury issues before he was handed a four-year ban after testing positive for elevated levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
It recently emerged that his ban was reduced to 18 months on appeal and as a result, he will be able to train again from January and can start playing again competitively from March.
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