The man at the centre of one of the moves of the summer has finally spoken. The cryptic tweets and Instagram posts are finally over, and Paul Pogba has been able to express how he feels about returning to Old Trafford, where he began his career as a first team professional having spent four years there before between 2009 and 2012.
When he left, he was furious at how the club had treated him, saying this in 2013…
“I will never go back there, the club treated me with disrespect when I left last summer.”
“I remember Sir Alex Ferguson rang me about three weeks after I’d left for Italy and just laughed down the phone for 25 minutes. What made it worse was that he got Paul Scholes, an idol of mine, to join in. Calling me names and laughing about how I wasn’t good enough to play for the club.”
“That’s when I decided I would never return to Manchester, no amount of money in the world could ever make me go back.”
Now, he views the situation slightly differently…
I am delighted to rejoin United. It has always been a club with a special place in my heart.
And he believes there couldn’t be a better time to be back…
I feel the time is right to go back to Old Trafford. I always enjoyed playing in front of the fans and can’t wait to make my contribution to the team. This is the right club for me to achieve everything I hope to in the game.
It seems as though he was always planning to return…
“I think it’s destiny. First my mum told me I will come back here.”
“I didn’t finish what I started here so I think I came to finish it.”
He feels at home…
“It looks like I just went on a holiday and I just came back home. It’s such a great feeling.”
And is ready to compete…
“I only think about the pitch, I want to do great. I want to be one of the best. I want to win titles, I want to achieve things. That’s why I came here.”
“I am ready to go and just kill it.”
“I know this club is created to win titles.”
Jose Mourinho is happy to have his man…
“Paul is one of the best players in the world and will be a key part of the United team I want to build here for the future.”
“He is quick, strong, scores goals and reads the game better than many players much older than he is.”
“At 23, he has the chance to make that position his own here over many years. He is young and will continue to improve; he has the chance to be at the heart of this club for the next decade and beyond.”
Some club legends, like Ryan Giggs, are fans…
“He’s a talented player. He can shoot with both feet, pass the ball with both feet and you don’t realise how big he is. Physically he’s immense, he’s strong, he’s quick, and he’s got everything. He has got everything.”
And other footballing heroes like Zinedine Zidane are too…
“If he can keep up his current development he can become one of the best players ever.”
It’ll surely only be a matter of time until there are even more quotes on Pogba’s arrival, most likely from terrified Premier League midfielders.
Featured Image: All rights reserved by Steve Mcmetha.