Considering Paul Pogba has spent the longest amount of time at Manchester United during his career, it is natural that he is primarily associated with the club.
The World Cup winner was signed by Manchester United for a world-record fee of £89 million (Sky Sports) in 2016.
At the time, the Frenchman was signed alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly during Jose Mourinho’s first season at United.
However, the Red Devils finished in sixth place while Manchester City ended up third in Pep Guardiola’s debut campaign.
During his spell at Old Trafford, the 31-year-old lifted the Europa League and the Carabao Cup in 2017; while at Juventus, he won four Serie A titles amongst other major pieces of silverware.
Pogba revealed the difference between Manchester United and Manchester City by touching on how individual players would often be scapegoated by the media at his former club; which is not the case with their local rivals.
Paul Pogba explains why he did not sign for Man City from Manchester United in 2022
However, it seems like the midfielder could well have headed to the Etihad Stadium at one point.
In the summer of 2022, the French international left United to make a fairytale return to Juventus on a free transfer.
But in an interview with the Daily Mail, Pogba has revealed that personal issues meant he could not sign for Manchester City directly from Manchester United.
“Honestly, I had a lot of problems.”
“I had the burglary, I had a problem with the extortion. I had to leave Manchester. Let’s say it like this: if I didn’t have that, maybe I would have been at City. But with an ‘if’ you can save the world because my head wasn’t about staying in Manchester. But it wasn’t a closed door because I left United for free.”
La Gazzetta Dello Sport also quizzed about Pogba about whether he rejected Pep Guardiola’s offer to make his way to the Etihad Stadium in favour of a move to Juventus two years ago.
The highly-rated technician simply replied: “Yes.”
Guardiola revealed he “said no” to Pogba move from Man United in 2018
Pep Guardiola replied to Mino Raiola referring to him as a “coward” and a “dog” by revealing that he offered Manchester City the chance to sign Pogba and Mkhitaryan in January 2018.
Guardiola said via HaytersTV: “I will answer him; I don’t understand why I am. Finally, the people discover my secrets — a bad guy. I’m a coward. I don’t understand why I am such a bad guy. I never speak with him so his opinion, I don’t know. But being a guy who two months ago offered me [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan and [Paul] Pogba to play with us. Why?”
“Why [did] he offer? He was interested in Mhikitaryan and Pogba to play with us. So he has to protect his players and has to know he cannot bring the players to a guy like me, like a dog. And comparing a dog is bad. It’s not good. He has to respect the dogs.”
Pep Guardiola went on to reveal that he rejected the chance to sign Pogba.
“Pogba is an exceptional player. A top, top player.”
“I said no. We don’t have enough money to buy Pogba because it’s so expensive.”
“[I was] Surprised because I am a dog. So that’s why, if I’m a dog, why does he [Mino Raiola] want his players to join a dog? So, no, no way.”
In 2018, if Manchester City had signed Pogba, Pep Guardiola could have helped him fulfil his outstanding potential.
It seems like Guardiola always held the former Manchester United maverick in high esteem — considering he looked keen to sign him in 2022 as well.
But ultimately, the move did not come to fruition.
It seems unlikely that Pep Guardiola and Manchester City would be too upset that they could not get their hands on Pogba as they remained a winning machine.
If Pogba had decided to leave United to sign for City in either 2018 or 2022, the transfer would have been one of the most controversial in Premier League history.
