France midfielder Paul Pogba has rejoined Manchester United from Italian champions Juventus for a record 89 million ($A151.76 million) five-year deal, with the option to extend for a further year.
“I am delighted to rejoin United. It has always been a club with a special place in my heart and I am really looking forward to working with (manager) Jose Mourinho,” Pogba said in a statement on United’s official website.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Juventus and have some fantastic memories of a great club with players that I count as friends. But I feel the time is right to go back to Old Trafford.
“I always enjoyed playing in front of the fans and can’t wait to make my contribution to the team. This is the right club for me to achieve everything I hope to in the game.”
The reported transfer fee for the 23-year-old equates to about 105 million euros, which eclipses the 100 million euros Real Madrid paid for Welshman Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.
Pogba is the latest of Mourinho’s new signings following defender Eric Bailly, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the Portuguese coach revamps the under-performing squad he inherited from Louis van Gaal.
“Paul is one of the best players in the world and will be a key part of the United team I want to build here for the future,” Mourinho said.
“He is quick, strong, scores goals and reads the game better than many players much older than he is.”
The France midfielder, whose strength and range of passing should allow United to play a more expansive game than the limited style adopted by Dutchman van Gaal, has been a hot property in recent months, with Real Madrid also hovering.
Pogba joined Juve in 2012, having come through Le Havre’s youth system before moving to United’s academy in 2009.
He won four Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia trophies in a successful spell with the Turin club but was criticised after failing to shine in the 2015 Champions League final defeat by Barcelona and France’s Euro 2016 loss to Portugal on home soil.
Pogba had signed for United on a three-year deal with a one-year renewal option then-United manager Alex Ferguson was keen to activate but the 18-year-old was frustrated by a lack of first-team opportunities at the club and decided to leave.
The Frenchman made just seven first-team appearances for United, all off the bench.
United have not challenged strongly for the Premier League title since Ferguson led them to the trophy in 2013 before ending his glittering 26-year reign as manager at Old Trafford.
Buddy
Guest
Has the EPL turned into a competition to see who can spend the most money now? It appears to be a two horse race between the Manchester teams. I was under the impression that United were seriously trying to rebuild the club and have a succession plan in place so as to avoid the mistakes they made when Sir Alex retired. For a number of years City have reminded me of the rich kid in the lolly shop, just picking off whatever he fancied, then changing his mind, discarding the first picks and going to the top shelf. Its been interesting but not sustainable. Now it seems the red half of Manchester is heading down that pathway too, in the apparent belief that nothing short of lifting the EPL in May 2017 will be good enough. It does not appear to be a structured and planned approach to the medium or long term but a desire to appease the fans that have been starved of success for 2 seasons and necome the butt of a lot of humour. Pogba is a delight to watch on most days but as I don't have Optus My attention will focus more on the lower leagues in the Uk mixed in with Spanish and German football this year and I will just look at the stats to see whether or not spending the most money really brings the expected rewards.
Partyhat
Guest
Didn't Juve just get Higuain for about 75mill? I know he's good but I'd prob prefer Pogba for 89mill than Higuain for 75 in the long run
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The Juventus Chief Financial Officer must be a chirpy soul at the moment.
Andy
Guest
It is an insane amount of money but Man United has the money to spend so why not spend it, Pogba is a brilliant talent and could be one of the best players in the world for years to come, if that happens its a very good deal with minimum risk. 100m to Man United is not the same as 100m to other clubs.
Josh
Guest
Zidane was 47 million.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Putting the transfer fee aside. He is an absolutely brilliant player with a range of skills that only a handful of players in the world possess. He has them at an age that few others would. He brings in nearly 200 games of appearances at the highest level which again you don't get from many at his age. Have very high expectations of him at United not because of his fee or his wages but the capabilities I know he has. His success won't be obvious without watching him week in week out.
SM
Guest
One of the biggest blunders that Ferguson ever made in getting rid of him in the first place. All because he didn't like Pogba's agent, who ends up getting the last laugh.
P Air
Guest
This will be interesting to watch throughout the season. In my opinion he is overrated. Time will tell.
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
Interesting figures via Reuters EVOLUTION OF WORLD RECORD FOOTBALL TRANSFER FEES (figures in pounds sterling) 1893 Willie Groves (Scotland) West Brom to Aston Villa 100 1905 Alf Common (England) Sunderland to Middlesbrough 1000 1922 Syd Puddefoot (England) West Ham to Falkirk 5000 1922 Warney Cresswell (England) Sth Shields to Sunderland 5500 1925 Bob Kelly (England) Burnley to Sunderland 6500 1928 David Jack (England) Bolton to Arsenal 10,890 1932 B. Ferreyra (Argentina) Tigre to River Plate 23,000 1949 Johnny Morris (England) Man Utd to Derby County 24,000 1949 Eddie Quigley (England) Sheff Wed to Preston 26,500 1950 Trevor Ford (Wales) Aston Villa to Sunderland 30,000 1951 Jackie Sewell (England) Notts County to Sheff Wed 34,500 1952 Hans Jeppson (Sweden) Atalanta to Napoli 52,000 1954 Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay) Penarol to AC Milan 72,000 1957 Omar Sivori (Argentina) River Plate to Juventus 93,000 1961 Luis Suarez (Spain) Barcelona to Inter Milan 152,000 1963 Angelo Sormoni (Brazil) Mantova to AS Roma 250,000 1967 Harald Nielsen (Denmark) Bologna to Inter Milan 300,000 1968 Pietro Anastasi (Italy) Varese to Juventus 500,000 1973 Johan Cruyff (Netherlands) Ajax to Barcelona 922,000 1975 Giuseppe Savoldi (Italy) Bologna to Napoli 1.2m 1976 Paolo Rossi (Italy) Vicenza to Juventus 1.75m 1982 Diego Maradona (Argentina) Boca Juniors to Barcelona 3.0m 1984 Diego Maradona (Argentina) Barcelona to Napoli 5.0m 1987 Ruud Gullit (Netherlands) PSV Eindhoven to AC Milan 6.0m 1990 Roberto Baggio (Italy) Fiorentina to Juventus 8.0m 1992 Jean-Pierre Papin (France) Marseille to AC Milan 10.0m 1992 Gianluca Vialli (Italy) Sampdoria to Juventus 12.0m 1993 Gianluigi Lentini (Italy) Torino to AC Milan 13.0m 1996 Alan Shearer (England) Blackburn to Newcastle 15.0m 1997 Ronaldo (Brazil) Barcelona to Inter Milan 19.5m 1998 Denilson (Brazil) Sao Paulo to Real Betis 21.5m 1999 Christian Vieri (Italy) Lazio to Inter Milan 32.0m 2000 Hernan Crespo (Argentina) Parma to Lazio 35.5m 2000 Luis Figo (Portugal) Barcelona to Real Madrid 37.0m 2001 Zinedine Zidane (France) Juventus to Real Madrid 53.0m 2009 Kaka (Brazil) AC Milan to Real Madrid 56.0m 2009 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) Man Utd to Real Madrid 80.0m 2013 Gareth Bale (Wales) Tottenham to Real Madrid 85.3m 2016 Paul Pogba (France) Juventus to Man Utd 89.0m