In a recent interview with Le Figaro, Paul Pogba summed up the general feeling about his time at Manchester United.
The last five years have not been good for me.
When he gave the interview, it was five years ago that he opened the scoring for United in the final of the Europa League.
That was the end of his first season at United after they paid a world record 89 million dollars to bring him back, but lost out on a free transfer.
Since then, United have won nothing. Six prime years of his club football career were unfulfilled as he left Old United for a second time.
In his recent interview, he said that this year it is dead. I want to win awards.
Where did it all go wrong?
The club's social media channels were trumpeted by the player at the end of a video clip. This was a very modern transfer with a collaboration with British rap artist Stormzy.
The fact that Pogba was one of the highest-profile athletes in the world and that United were just 12 months into their own 10-year deal with the German sportswear giant meant the deal made sense commercially.
He was wanted by the new manager. It made sense for Ed Woodward, who was starting to feel the heat after firing two managers.
This was a chance to prove Ferguson wrong, that United could attract high-profile players and bring academy graduates back into the fold.
There was a heavy price to pay. Raiola was too smart to allow it to be any other way.
According to information put into the public domain by the Football Leaks website, which has never been contested at Old Trafford, Pogba's contract was a basic £7.75m-a-year. A loyalty bonus of £3.75m-a-year was also included. If United qualified for the Champions League, Pogba netted a further £1.85m. In addition, Pogba had a £3m-a-year image rights deal. Raiola himself was paid an astonishing £41m.
This is what United were signing up for when they brought Paul Pogba back to the club.
There is no consistent thread for where the Frenchman should be used if you go back to his time at United.
As part of a deep-lying two man area? Are you on the left of a three? As a number 10? Wide of a more advanced attacking unit?
Even though he won the World Cup with France, his strengths are offensive. His range of passing is world class. He is a major threat if he runs from deep. He needs protection. He can be a liability defensively.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was often dropping back into the same places the Frenchman wanted to occupy when he was given the freedom to roam forward.
At the time, it felt like a problem that would be solved naturally since the Swede was too young to be a team-mate for long.
United never found an adequate solution. Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho all liked to operate in the same areas where Pogba excelled.
If he dropped deep, it exposed the United's center of gravity. The axis of Fred and Scott McTominay has been derided. Neither has the same level of talent as Pogba. United is at risk of getting completely overrun if Pogba doesn't run hard enough to take one of them out.
"It's simple with France, I play and I play in my position - I know my role and I feel the confidence of the coach and the players," Pogba told Le Figaro. "It's normal to feel a difference at Manchester United because it's hard to be consistent when you often have a change to your position, or the team system, or your partners."
An already unsatisfactory situation was made worse by the off-field issues that Pogba brought.
The vice-captaincy at United was taken away from the Frenchman after he criticized his tactics. The most expensive signing was not used on the bench until three months after the final game.
It appeared that the team-mates had won a power battle with the exit of the boss. A post on the social networking site immediately after the announcement clearly indicated that and drew a rebuke from Gary Neville, a former United skipper.
As the Portuguese's successor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, enjoyed an extended honeymoon, harmony broke out. Further issues were not far away.
Raiola was happy to stir the pot on the matter, saying he had spoken to the Bianconeri about a return early in 2020, then getting into a spat with Solskjaer when he effectively said what happened to the Frenchman was not his business.
Solskjaer was ready to sanction a transfer at that point. When the Pandemic hit, United knew they would not get the same value for the player as in a fee, so they tried to negotiate a contract extension to protect their asset. It did not work.
In his final season as a United player, Pogba made 20 appearances in the premier league. He claimed nine assists and scored once. In the first game, four of them came.
One of the best United moments was that match at Old United. He scored twice in the famous 3-2 comeback win at Manchester City. Two seasons ago, he volleyed his winner at Burnley, as well as the Europa League final against Ajax.
But they were fleeting. Some fans thought that Pogba no longer wanted to play for the club after each injury absence.
He was jeered by his own supporters when he left the field after his last appearance for United.
It is over.
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