The tales of France’s combative midfielder, Paul Labile Pogba returns to Manchester United for a world record fee $125m ( £89m) is an apt encapsulation of life’s twist and turn.
The 23-year-old midfielder completed his switch back to Old Trafford from Juventus in the early hours of today bringing to an end the longest transfer saga of this transfer window.
Pogba joined United from French club Le Havre in 2009 as a 16-year-old. He left United to join Juventus in 2012 for £1.5m and he won four Serie A titles during his time in Turin.
He said: “Leaving Manchester when I was 18 was a mutual decision between the club and me and the right thing to do at that moment. “Now it’s time to go back and forward, Old Trafford here I come! My deepest respect to the clubs who considered having me. Gracias, merci!
“Juventus will always be a part of me and I will always miss, love and be grateful to the club, the team and especially the supporters. “I hope you can respect my decision. The most beautiful part of friendship is to understand and be understood. It is difficult to explain so much in a few lines but I made a decision guided by my heart and nothing else.
“This transfer took so long because it was a huge decision and involved lots of thinking and work. The wait was as annoying to me as it was to you. “To all supporters who wrote on my pages about transfer rumours, I have read you all and thank you for the passionate messages. My apologies for not responding before, by law I could not talk.”
This is the first time in 20 years that the world record will be hold by a Premiership club. The last time was when Newcastle United paid £15 million ($23.4m) to acquire Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers.
Also, United usurped Real Madrid as the holder world record in football. Real formerly holds the record for £85m that Real Madrid paid Tottenham for Wales forward Gareth Bale in 2013 and £80m previously paid to Manchester United to acquire Cristiano Ronaldo. Hernan Crespo’s £35.5m move to Lazio from Italian rivals Parma in 2000 was the last time a club other than Real Madrid broke the world record for a football transfer fee.
- 2013 – Gareth Bale £86m (Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid)
- 2009 – Cristiano Ronaldo £80m (Manchester United to Real Madrid)
- 2009 – Kaka £56m (AC Milan to Real Madrid)
- 2001 – Zinedine Zidane £46m (Juventus to Real Madrid)
- 2000 – Luis Figo £37m (Barcelona to Real Madrid)
Pogba made 178 appearances for Juventus, scoring 34 goals, and helped the club reach the 2015 Champions League final. He is part of the French team that got to the final of Euro 2016.
