When Manchester United signed Paul Pogba for a record transfer fee for any player in football history back in 2016, the return of the prodigal son was supposed to be celebratory and successful.
The Frenchman was returning to the club from Juventus in exchange for a fee of £89m after leaving on a free five years prior, and his first season back at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho was not the season he wanted it to be – despite the fact that United won the Community Shield, the League Cup and the UEFA Europa League in the same season.
Pogba’s first season was marred by allegations of inconsistency as he could barely live up to the price tag that was astronomical at the time, as Manchester United finished sixth in the league.
Mourinho did finish second in the league in the 2017/18 season – 19 points behind champions Manchester City in his much-awaited second season in charge, but his and Pogba’s relationship truly worsened in the 2018/2019 season.
A very heated training ground exchange between the two surfaced in the wake of Man Utd’s spell of awful form when the season started, something that eventually cost the head coach his job in December 2018.
Almost two years and a half since, Pogba remains an important element in the current United setup despite recurring rumours about him wanting to leave the club.
The World Cup-winning midfielder is definitely a happier customer under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer than he was under his predecessor, and he made his opinion about the two in his latest bold interview with Laura Woods.
When asked about the differences between his former coach and his current coach’s style of management, Pogba replied that even though both of their prime objectives were the same as both wanted to win – but also added that his relationship with Solskjaer is different as he would not go against his players, something that Mourinho particularly has a reputation for.
Pogba laid his thoughts bare, as he slammed his former coach by branding him as erratic and unpredictable, and backed the current manager by saying that he is much better pleased with the way Solskjaer runs affairs when compared to his celebrated predecessor.
Paul Pogba explains the difference in coaching and management between Ole Gunnar Solskjær & Jose Mourinho
— Lew (@Lzw9ine) April 16, 2021
So happy he’s finally done this pic.twitter.com/T0pNZKp5Wf