TURIN, Italy (AP) - Paul Pogba insists he has no regrets about leaving Juventus to rejoin Manchester United.
Pogba was signed by United for a then-world record fee of $116 million from Juventus in 2016, ending a four-year spell at the Italian club during which he won four Serie A titles and two Italian Cup trophies.
Since then, Pogba has won the Europa League and League Cup with Manchester United, while Juventus went on to secure two more league and cup doubles and reached the final of the Champions League.
“Choosing to come back to United, first of all, was my choice. Juve were playing Champions League and Manchester were playing Europa. I don’t regret my choice,” Pogba said at Tuesday’s news conference ahead of United’s Champions League match against Juventus.
“I know Manchester in the last few years haven’t been at the top, but I came back to help the team and get them back to the top. We have a lot of goals. For me, it’s not changed, I don’t regret it at all. I’m very happy to come back to United and I’m sure we will come back to the best.”
Pogba was stripped of vice captaincy duties by United coach Jose Mourinho at the end of September for speaking out about his team’s style of play.
The France World Cup winner’s relationship with Mourinho has appeared strained at times - last season as well as this campaign.
“One thing is what the press says, and another thing is what Paul says and of course another thing is what I say,” said Mourinho, who was sat next to Pogba at the news conference. “The press says we have a terrible relationship, Paul some weeks ago said we had a typical coach-player relationship, I think we have a good relationship. I would classify it as a good relationship between a coach and a football player.”
There have been question marks over Pogba’s future at United but when the 25-year-old was asked if he is happy at the club, he responded with a smile: “Why? Do I look sad?”
“I’m really happy, I’m happy to wear this shirt. It’s a big club and at a big club there is always talk.”
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