Paul Pogba officially signs with Manchester United, says goodbye to Juventus
Paul Pogba is officially a Manchester United player. Again.
The club confirmed that they have completed the signing of their one-time youth player, turned Juventus star midfielder. But after four years with the Italian giants, he is returning to Old Trafford to join Jose Mourinho's outfit.
Manchester United paid a pretty penny for Pogba's services, shelling out a reported €110 million, which would be a new world transfer record. That's especially astonishing considering that when Pogba left United for Juventus in 2012, he did so on a free transfer and the Red Devils only got £800,000 in training compensation.
Pogba is the final piece of Mourinho's summer plans. He wanted to sign four players and rebuild the Red Devils' spine. Eric Bailly took care of the central defense issues, Zlatan Ibrahimovic the striker and Henrikh Mkhitaryan the attacking midfield. Now Pogba comes in as the central midfielder and Manchester United are brand new through the middle of the pitch as Mourinho tries to get the Red Devils back among England and Europe's elite.
Pogba's move to Manchester United has been rumored since the start of the summer and in the last few weeks, it has appeared to be a near done deal. Pogba did not report to Juventus' preseason training, instead being given an extended offseason break after the Euros. The Old Lady even gave away his squad number, which was revealed when adidas put Juventus Paulo Dybala shirts up for sale with Pogba's old number on the back. There was also Manchester United just coincidentally handing out squad numbers, but not giving anyone the No. 6 that people expect Pogba to wear at Old Trafford.
The deal was made near official on Sunday when Juventus confirmed that they had given Pogba to take a medical with Manchester United. On Monday, he took that medical and not long after midnight, the Red Devils confirmed the transfer.
Just before Manchester United went public with the confirmed deal, Pogba took to Twitter to thank Juventus. First he tweeted a video with some highlights of him with the Italian giants and then a thank you message at the end.
Pogba followed that up with another tweet thanking his old club and its fans.
Of course, Manchester United and adidas were set for a coordinated, well-planned rollout.
Now Pogba will begin training with the team just four days before the start of their Premier League season. We'll see how long it takes him to get match fit so he can play for the Red Devils, but Manchester United will happily take him whenever he's ready. He's their new (and old) star. And an expensive one at that.
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— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) August 8, 2016
Thanks @juventusfc and all Juventini. Goodbye means nothing, it is the time we spent together that matters ??❤
— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) August 8, 2016
REUNITED: https://t.co/VFkDJ05zuf #POGBACK https://t.co/y68rpT0dob
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 8, 2016
PogBOOM is coming to Old Trafford.@paulpogba: Welcome home to @ManUtd.#FirstNeverFollowshttps://t.co/UKrEgp7Mcy
— adidasfootball (@adidasfootball) August 8, 2016
