Paul Pogba has revealed how he really wanted to leave Manchester United in 2019 as he ‘didn’t see the club going upwards.’
The Frenchman eventually left Old Trafford for free in the summer of 2022, six years after he had returned for a then-world record £89million fee.
Pogba believes that the 2018-19 season when he was United’s top scorer was his best at the club, but still wanted to leave despite the positivity surrounding Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s new regime after taking over from Jose Mourinho.
The midfielder, 31, has bared his soul in a warts-and-all exclusive interview with Mail Sport’s Sami Mokbel, his first with a UK newspaper since his football ban was reduced.
‘I will tell you something I’ve never told anyone,’ Pogba teases.
‘The year Jose went and Ole came, it was my best season at United but after the last game I told Ole and Ed Woodward that I thought it was my last year and that I wanted to leave.
‘I was 27 back then, it didn’t work out the way I wanted. I gave my best but I didn’t see the club going upwards.
‘Manchester City and Liverpool were better than us and they were improving. Ole said yes (to me leaving) and that he would talk to Ed.
‘My head was already that I wanted to go but I came back for pre-season because I wanted to be professional.
‘I spoke to Ed to try to make a move but he blocked it. I didn’t want to play for United anymore but I had to be professional.
‘Mentally I wasn’t there and then I got the injuries.’
He went on to join Juventus once again, but only managed 12 appearances due to injury troubles before a failed drugs test in August 2023.
In February Pogba, then 30, was slapped with a four-year ban from football after failing a drugs test in August 2023 – potentially a career-ender.
He tested positive for testosterone after Juventus’s first game of the 2023-24 season against Udinese, and was given his hefty punishment by an anti-doping prosecutor’s office in Italy.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month reduced his ban to 18 months after an appeal, meaning he can play again in March 2025, with training permitted from January.