Paul Pogba refused to sign a Manchester United shirt as he arrived in Turin ahead of his return to Italian giants Juventus.
The Frenchman’s return to the Bianconeri has been inevitable since United confirmed his departure at the end of his contract at Old Trafford at the end of the campaign. That brought an end to Pogba’s turbulent six-year stint in Manchester which had plenty of spells of blistering form but was also marked by its fair share of frustration over the midfielder’s form and fitness.
A newly-released documentary on the midfielder – titled The Pogmentary – has been slated by viewers IMDb with a rating of one out of ten. It primarily focused on how Pogba had been plotting his exit from United for a year prior to his eventual departure.
The midfielder has been spending his holidays in the United States but this week jetted to Turin to complete this move to Juve, where he spent four years between 2012 and 2016 – prior to re-joining in what was then football’s most expensive transfers. However, he was offered a United shirt to sign after landing in the Italian city, but he refused to do so.
Pogba returned to United after four years at Juventus following a club-record £89million transfer in 2016. The midfielder went on to make 226 appearances and scoring 39 goals during his second stint with the club – in a spell which was disrupted by losses of fitness and form.
Pogba won just two major trophies - the EFL Cup and Europa League – at Old Trafford, both in his debut season when he was coached by Jose Mourinho. The player then went on to have a high-profile fallout with the Portuguese boss, who was sacked in December 2018.
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The midfielder enjoyed a run of top form when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as the temporary replacement for Mourinho, but this spell was temporary and Pogba’s situation once again deteriorated. The Frenchman enjoyed sporadic runs of strong form in the period since, including providing a hat-trick of assists in the 2020/21 season opener against Leeds United, but each time his importance swiftly dissipated.
Although he failed to win either the Premier League or Champions League at Old Trafford, Pogba still boasts a fine CV. He helped France win the World Cup in 2018 - scoring against Croatia in the final - and lifted the Nations League last autumn, meaning that he will be in high demand this summer.
During his tenure at United, it is calculated that the central midfielder will have earned a total of £90.5million at United since his return in the summer of 2016 – slightly more than the transfer fee the club shelled out to bring him back from Juventus. This calculates out that Pogba was paid a total of £800k for each performance he made for United over the course of six seasons.
