Pranav Nair
Jose Mourinho touted to have staged Paul Pogba bust-up while at Manchester United
According to The Athletic (Subscription Required), Jose Mourinho has been touted to have staged his bust-up with Paul Pogba during their time together at Manchester United.
The Portuguese tactician’s time at Old Trafford was not without controversy. One of the enduring themes was his beef with Pogba.
It was in fact Mourinho who signed Pogba in the summer of 2016 for a club-record fee. The duo initially got on well as the Red Devils won a cup double the following season.
The relationship, however, soured in the2017/18 campaign. Not only was Pogba unhappy with the arrival of Alexis Sanchez but also struggled to perform consistently on the pitch. (h/t Express)
This saw him benched in favour of Scott McTominay on numerous occasions. The duo’s relationship reached a tipping point in September 2018 when Mourinho was caught on camera berating Pogba for a social media post.
However, it has now been suggested that the incident was staged for dramatic effect.
“It was a staged bust-up. Jose saw Paul in the changing room before going out, so could have done it there. It was diversion tactics, 100 per cent.”
Diversionary tactics!
A master manipulator, Mourinho usually airs dirty laundry in public. It is fair to say that such antics found him few friends at the Theatre of Dreams.
“When it goes wrong, he almost likes to air his dirty laundry in public. A lot of people would keep things quiet, but he goes the other way.”
Pogba is a much happier player now and has put some some key performances in the past few months. With his contract set to expire next year, it remains to be seen if he is enjoying his final dance in Red.
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The duo will meet face to face tonight when United travel to London to take on Spurs. Pogba endured a game to forget in the reverse fixture as he gave away a penalty in a 6-1 humbling.
Hopefully he can once again remind Mourinho just why he is one of the world’s leading players by humbling the former boss in his new backyard.
