Pogba worth world’s best player – Mourinho
Paul Pogba can fulfil his dream of
becoming the world’s best player by returning to his former club
Manchester United, his manager-in-waiting Jose Mourinho declared on
Sunday.
Pogba, 23, is close to returning to Old
Trafford for a reported world-record fee of 89 million pounds ($116.4
million, 105 million euros) after United and Juventus confirmed he was
due to undergo a medical.
The France midfielder makes no secret of
his desire to usurp Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the world’s
foremost player and Mourinho believes he will achieve that ambition at
United.
“I think United is the perfect club to
bring him to the level that he wants to be,” Mourinho said after United
beat Leicester City 2-1 at Wembley in the season-opening Community
Shield.
“The Premier League is the perfect
habitat for that. If you want to be the best player in the world, I
think if you go to Barcelona or to Real Madrid, you are in trouble.
“Because I don’t think the other two big guys will let you develop to that level.
“Here he has the conditions to develop
in the most seen worldwide championship, which is absolutely incredible,
with a team that wants to bring Man United to the top again.
“So we have everything to give him and
we know the reasons why he wants to come to us.
Money he will get from
any big club. That’s not the point.
“He comes because he knows the club,
knows the city, knows many of the players.
He wants to be an important
part of the Man United project.
So hopefully everything goes well and he
comes into our team.”
Mourinho had earlier told BT Sport: “It’s amazing that such a good player is with us. Finally we have him.”
The transfer saga took a huge step
forward when Juventus announced they had granted permission for Pogba to
undergo a medical at United, the club he left four years ago.
‘Talk very soon’
United confirmed the news with a short
statement on their club website saying the medical would enable Pogba to
“finalise his transfer from Juventus to Manchester United”.
Pogba, who was part of the France side
that lost to Portugal in the Euro 2016 final last month, tweeted
enigmatically: “When too many people talk nobody understands — talk very
soon.”
Early signs that a deal was imminent
came when Pogba did not travel with the Juventus squad to London for
their 3-2 friendly win over West Ham United on Sunday.
Media reports said he had already arrived in Manchester.
Pogba, who has won four Serie A titles
with Juventus and reached the 2015 Champions League final, has been
courted assiduously by United, who received just 1.5 million pounds when
he left in 2012.
They faced reported competition from
European champions Real Madrid, amid speculation that Pogba would have
preferred to link up with his compatriot Zinedine Zidane at the
Bernabeu.
But Madrid, who have paid huge money for
stars like Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent years, did not
pursue the player, leaving Pogba with a choice between moving to United
or remaining with Juventus.
A reported initial 86 million pounds bid was rejected by Juventus.
Pogba’s arrival will secure the four
signings Mourinho had set his sights on when he replaced Louis van Gaal
at the end of last season.
Pogba will join young Ivorian defender
Eric Bailly, Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan and veteran
Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in arriving at Old Trafford this
summer.
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