‘I didn’t see the club going upwards’ – Paul Pogba reveals he predicted Man Utd woes five years ago
PAUL POGBA revealed he predicted Manchester United’s woes five years ago – after demanding to leave the club.
Pogba found himself at civil war with then-United manager Jose Mourinho until Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over in December 2018.
The Frenchman went onto finish the season as the club’s top goalscorer and things appeared to be on the up under Solskjaer.
But Pogba has revealed he actually asked former United chief Ed Woodward to LEAVE in 2019 – before being denied.
He told the Daily Mail: “I will tell you something I’ve never told anyone.
“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.
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“Mentally I wasn’t there and then I got the injuries.”
Pogba initially left United in 2012 for Juventus, but after four years in Italy he returned to Manchester in an £89m deal.
Back in England he won the Europa League and League Cup but did finally get his move back to Juventus in 2022.
His career hit a crisis in February when he was hit with a FOUR-YEAR football ban for failing a drug test for a banned substance.
But the 2018 World Cup winner protested his innocence with the suspension slashed to just 18 months.
It paves the way for Pogba to continue his career in January with his contract at Juve set to be terminated.
He said: “I have goals and dreams — my dream was always to play for the national team and it is still in my head.
“But today the future of Paul is to get back on the pitch and show I still have the level.
“Football hasn’t stopped because I can’t play; players are playing, that’s life — that’s the circle.
“All the players will say, ‘Pogba is back, I don’t want him to take my position’. That’s normal. But I have to be ready.”