Italian giants Juventus seem not to have had any difficulty pulling off their sleight-of-hand parlor trick in re-signing Paul Pogba for a second time and without a single dime paid out in the process this time after the self-serving midfielder served out his Manchester United contract to the end before leaving.
Juventus are rapidly developing for themselves a reputation as becoming the kings of the free transfer act with their latest stunt being a truly exceptional one as the Turin-based juggernauts have managed to secure France World Cup winner Pogba for free on his Bosman status. The powers-that-be at the Italian club would be donning broad grins to have gained a talented midfielder for nothing more than his wages.
Reports have emerged that the contract between Juventus and Pogba is ready to be signed when the player returns from his summer holiday with the deal expected to be officially announced within the fortnight.
The French midfielder’s Italian homecoming comes six years after he left Juventus the first time with United overseeing his return after he had left the Red Devils in 2012. He then returned to Old Trafford for a then-world record fee of £90million in 2016, which saw a massive balloon being inflated then with hot air, prompting huge excitement that he would surely be the shining star to help United restore themselves to their former glories. Sure, he played the game, but certainly one that served his own cause that United had not been hoping and waiting for.
The desperate move to bring Pogba back to the club was one that saw the World Cup winner become one of the most divisive players in the Premier League, using every opportnity he could in the international media to garner attention for himself especially during the bouts of international football. United were frequently on the losing end and were even accused by some of not doing enough to unlock the Frenchman’s talent by failing to surround him with equally talented additions.
However, while that seemed to be the general impression, it was to others a simple case of Pogba falling spectacularly short of the required effort level and the argument continued to rage on throughout his second spell in the English top-flight.
Pogba will now be back to playing in Serie A albeit this time around with a self-confessed obsession to prove, in alluding to his recent Amazon Prime documentary ‘The Pogumentary’, in his own words: “My thought process is to show Manchester that they made a mistake in waiting to give me a contract.”
“And to show other clubs that Manchester had made a mistake in not offering me a contract,” he added, with a clearly-discernible vindictive streak belying a vengeful spirit.
Well, possibly this could turn out to be the only way to motivate the self-deluded player again to finally muster up some decent football skills in the forthcoming Serie A season to cause some problems on the pitch for Juve’s rivals.
The 29-year-old leaves Manchester having performed way below all expectations, having earned derision and harsh criticism from many quarters sceptical of his motives although not his skills. United legend Roy Keane was never one to shy away from openly criticising Pogba, but arguably his most damning review came when talking about the trophies he hasn’t won.
“I think when Manchester United signed Paul Pogba, it wasn’t to be playing in the Europa League or to be winning the League Cup,” Keane explained.
It’s undeniably an awkward feeling to see Pogba slinking his way out of United with nothing more than just a Europa League and League Cup to show for his six-year effort. Certainly not worth the £90m fee, but Juventus would not have the opportunity to complain about this issue should he not be able to deliver when he kicks off with them again as the burden of a price tag doesn’t exist for him this time at Juventus – because he is convenient freebie, after all.