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Jose Mourinho called Paul Pogba a ‘virus’ during his time at Man Utd

Paul Pogba’s return to Manchester United was a world-record transfer fee at the time boasting of £89m.

United re-signed the midfielder in August 2016 from Juventus for a world-record fee of £89m, he returned to the club where he came through the academy at.

The French midfielder got off to a great start at the club but then things started going wrong very quickly when Jose Mourinho called him out for his ‘ill-discipline’.

Mourinho and Pogba got on like a house on fire at United with the Portuguese manager labelling him as ‘one of the best players in the world’.

He also said: “he will be a key part of the United team I want to build here for the future”.

Jose Mourinho once called Paul Pogba a 'virus'.
Paul Pogba was back loving life at United but it would be short-lived. (Image: Wiki Commons)

For a while, Jose backed Pogba as the media started pressing him for his poor performances on the pitch but Mourinho called the media who criticised the French star ‘Einstein’s’.

In the bitter end, both Mourinho and Pogba stopped directly communicating with each other and had to communicate with each other via the assistant manager at the time.

In December 2018, Mourinho called out Paul Pogba once again after a dismal draw at Southampton left the Red Devils in 7th position.

Accoring to sources, “Jose called Pogba a virus in front of all of the players. He also told him “you are like a person with the flu or a virus in a closed room – you pass that virus to the others”.

“He also told him ‘you don’t play, you don’t respect players and supporters and you kill the mentality of good, honest people around you.’”

Paul Pogba playing for Manchester United in the Europa League.
Jose Mourinho called Paul Pogba ‘toxic’. (Image: Wiki Commons)

Apparently, Pogba complained that Mourinho’s tactics left him with nobody to pass to.

The pair met once again in 2021 when Mourinho’s Tottenham at the time took on his old club Manchester United.

Mourinho unwelcomely greeted Luke Shaw and Paul Pogba as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United beat Spurs 3-1.

Paul Pogba re-joined Juventus in 2022 after his Man Utd contract expired but struggled once again with injuries making only 6 Serie A appearances last season which prompted the Old Lady to look into offloading the 30 year-old.

What a huge waste of potential, flashes of brilliance but no consistency.

Now that Paul Pogba has been banned for 4 years at the age of 30, is his football career over? Let us know on social media!