Revealed: How Mourinho convinced Paul Pogba to join Manchester United?!
Sep 13, 2016 at 4:47 PM
Champions League football is the topmost priority of every footballer player in Europe and when you are considered among the best footballers, it becomes more of a necessity. Paul Pogba reached the final of Champions League in the 2014-15 season with Juventus and so it was quite tough to even assume that he would sign for a club who have failed to qualify for the biggest club tournament in Europe. But the French ace surprised one and all when he signed for Manchester United for a world record €110 million deal.
And now the Red Devils boss, Jose Mourinho has admitted that convincing the star midfielder to re-sign for United was difficult. Talking to football news outlet Goal, the Portuguese tactician revealed that he faced huge competition from another big club in completing the sensational signing.
“Oh! It was hard to convince him,” Mourinho said. “I had many [conversations] on the phone, lots of SMS.
“I think he was getting one in the morning from the manager from another big club and one in the afternoon from myself. I had to try hard to convince him to choose us instead of the other one.”
Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the English giants have struggled to perform consistently and have qualified for the Champions League only once. And Mourinho said that both the Champions League and Manchester United themselves are suffering because of United’s absence in the tournament.
“The Champions League without Manchester United is not the Champions League and Manchester United without the Champions League is not Manchester United,” he said. “So this is the first big step.
“But to get back to the Champions League we need to do well in the Premier League, so the first step is to recover the self-esteem, which I think we are doing.”
Mourinho replaced Louis Van Gaal this season as the club is looking to revive their fortunes once again. They started brightly by winning their opening three games but suffered a humiliating defeat to Manchester City in Saturday’s derby. But Mourinho is unfazed by the defeat and asked the fans to have patience.
“I have a very positive feeling,” he said. “Rome was not built in one day and a football team is probably more difficult to build than Rome was!
“The feeling is that they want to work for me, they have the same level of ambition and commitment that I have and step by step, by a tactical and mental point of view, I have great feelings with the answers they are giving. So yes, I am very positive.”
Speaking about his life as United manager, he said: “It feels like I am at home. I didn’t feel strange or under pressure. I am enjoying the situation very, very much so I think we can both – me and the club – enjoy this professional relationship.
“For me, I played so many times at Old Trafford as an opponent and – winning or not winning – I enjoy so much the atmosphere and the stadium.
“You can imagine that being at home with that amazing support behind the team is a moment to remember as one of the nicest ones in my career.”