Not for the first time since leaving Old Trafford, Paul Pogba has had bitter words for Manchester United, with the Juventus midfielder accusing his former club of disrespecting him and wanting to get rid of him.
Pogba has claimed he was sidelined and marginalised, after he was told to train alone and he insists he has absolutely no regrets about leaving Old Trafford for Juventus in July 2012. It’s hard to fathom how the Frenchman could have any regrets at all about his decision, given that since joining the Serie A giants he’s gone on to win a consecutive league title, with a second on the way, and has developed into one of the best midfielders in Europe.
“They left me out because they said I wanted to leave. That is disrespect,” Pogba said in an in interview with the BBC‘s Football Focus. “Maybe they didn’t think they were making a mistake.”
Pogba was famously left on the bench on New Year’s Eve 2012 when, amid an injury crisis, Fergie chose to field Ji-Sung Park and Rafael in the middle of the park against Blackburn Rovers, while Pogba watched on from the bench as United crumbled to an unexpected home defeat, which would then prove extremely costly in the race for the title.
Despite his obvious potential, Pogba didn’t find much resistance when he decided to leave Old Trafford, with Fergie claiming that he was “quite happy” to see the back of the Frenchman who, according to Sir Alex, had got ideas above his station and whom he accused of not “showing us any respect at all.”
Pogba departed after making just seven substitute appearances in a red shirt, a choice he claims was made easier by the circumstances.
“Manchester United is a big club but you have to think about yourself,” he said. “You have to play. The coach told me there would be space to play, but I wasn’t playing. I was training alone for one week. They told me to go in the gym. I said ‘I am not an athlete, I am a footballer.'”
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