Pogba: I 'mentally' quit Man Utd after Mourinho exit

Suraj Radia

• 16 Oct 2024 21:00 BST
• 3 min read

Paul Pogba has revealed he ‘mentally’ quit on Manchester United and had wanted to leave THREE years before his actual departure as he didn’t see the club ‘going upwards’.

The Frenchman was speaking for the first time since his doping ban was reduced, allowing the Frenchman to continue playing football in March 2025 after testing positive for a banned substance in September 2023.

The ban came after Pogba had left United on a free transfer for Juventus in 2022 upon the expiry of his contract, however the 31-year-old admitted he had wanted to leave in 2019 as rivals Liverpool and Manchester City were ‘better than us and always improving’.

“I will tell you something I’ve never told anyone,” Pogba told the Daily Mail. “The year Jose [Mourinho] went and Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] 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 [Woodward]. 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. Mentally I wasn’t there and then I got the injuries.”

Pogba: My relationship with Mourinho was like boyfriend and girlfriend

Pogba arrived at Old Trafford as a marquee record transfer in Mourinho’s first summer but he had his best campaign for United after the Portuguese manager was sacked in 2018.

The Frenchman netted 13 goals in 35 Premier League games but United could only finish sixth under Solskjaer, leaving the club missing out on Champions League football and Pogba asking to leave.

Pogba’s improvement in that season came after Mourinho’s departure following a fall out between the two, although the midfielder insists that there would be ‘a big hug’ if the pair saw each other again.

“Our relationship was like boyfriend and girlfriend, we were breaking up and making up all the time,’ Pogba confesses. “It started great, he was one of the reasons I went back to Manchester because I spoke to him and he convinced me to come back.

“I don’t know why it turned into a nightmare and us fighting. Because I wasn’t fighting. I didn’t start the fight. We disagreed like managers and players do sometimes. But there’s a lot of respect from me to him.”