Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho had a relationship at Man United that was at best toxic, with the pair regularly at loggerheads while working together until the Portuguese\u2019s eventual termination from the club.<\/p>\n
News reportedly has it that Manchester United are now inclined to believe they may have made a mistake when they sided with Paul Pogba over Jose Mourinho back in 2018.<\/p>\n
Mourinho’s Red Devils splashed out a then club-record \u00a389million in signing Pogba from Juventus in 2016. Unfortunately for the club, the France international\u2019s relationship with Mourinho was a toxic one, and the pair regularly clashed in public. Eventually, things came to a head with results on the decline, leaving the hierarchy at Old Trafford with no alternative but to make a decision and the Portuguese coach was consigned to the guillotine.<\/p>\n
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer immediately came in as a temporary replacement for Mourinho in 2018, with the Norwegian overseeing an immediate improvement from the players. United’s revitalized form saw Solskjaer subsequently handed the manager’s job on a permanent basis. The 47-year-old explained that his approach of using an arm around the shoulder of Pogba was the best way to handle the World Cup winner.<\/p>\n
Yet two years on and the problems Mourinho experienced then with Pogba have again resurfaced with his agent, Mino Raiola, taking the liberty of brazenly announcing in the press on Monday that the midfielder intends to leave United as he is unhappy, adding he should be sold in the January transfer window for the sake of all parties.<\/p>\n
The announcement, coming on the eve of United’s crucial Champions League clash with RB Leipzig for qualification into the last 18 knockout rounds, apparently disrupted the club’s preparation for the match, in which they were dumped out of the competition with a 3-2 loss.<\/p>\n
The Sun alleges that\u00a0Old Trafford now \u2018fear\u2019 that they may have misjudged the Mourinho situation back in 2016 when opting to back Pogba instead of standing by the Portuguese.<\/p>\n
Mourinho – not exactly the choir boy – did make a number of rash decisions at the time, including making Pogba United’s vice-captain and then swiftly stripping him of the armband, leading the Red Devils top hierarchy into believing the Portuguese was going through a ‘meltdown’.<\/p>\n
Although Pogba wasn’t entirely to blame for the 2018 issues at United, it seems the board have begun to empathise with Mourinho in light of the problems Solskjaer is continually having to deal with in relation to the France international and his controversial agent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"