When Paul Pogba joined Manchester United for the second time in 2016, for a then world-record transfer fee of £93.2m, it was considered a masterstroke by Ed Woodward and co. There were other suitors like Real Madrid but the French international chose to return to his old stomping ground.
Pogba returned as a serial winner, bagging four Serie A titles, and as a UEFA Champions League and Euro finalist. However, for United, he was always more of a flash in the pan. His marauding run that ended in a goal in the Manchester derby or the Europa League final strike against Ajax are examples of flickering brilliance of his second coming at the Old Trafford. He dazzled far and few and was never the leader that the world witnessed in the rousing pre-final team talk in Russia. Rather he started falling off with his managers (feud with Jose Mourinho and lately with Ralf Rangnick) and was viewed more as a nuisance and trouble-maker.
When Ralf Rangnick took over Pogba was injured and was set to miss three months of action. He chose to do his rehab in Dubai and the new manager preferred that he did his rehabilitation with the club.
"My former clubs were always trying to make sure the rehab should take place in the club itself," he said. "As far as I can tell the medical department is really good, very good, with many different approaches towards rehab.
"I would not want players to do their rehab abroad or anywhere else but the decision on Paul was taken before I came," he added.
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His final act in United colours was a gift to Liverpool which helped their arch-rivals open the scoring which would end in a 4-0 thrashing. Pogba, who was injured, failed to notify the referee and United were caught napping on a counter. The German manager blasted him after the game and commented, "We were effectively one player down and still attacking high up. He should have lain down or sat down, but he was trying to hobble behind the referee and tell him he's injured."
Pogba, with his flickering performances, always divided opinion amongst fans during his time at United. In his six years at Manchester United, he had 90 goal contributions at an average of 195 minutes. With the midfielder leaving Manchester United once again we take a look at how did he perform in his second stint.
Getty/GOALSeason | Matches | Goals | Assists | Minutes Played | Trophies won |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016-17 | 51 | 9 | 6 | 4350' | Europa League, EFL Cup. |
2017-18 | 37 | 6 | 12 | 2879' | 0 |
2018-19 | 47 | 16 | 11 | 4012' | 0 |
2019-20 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 1608' | 0 |
2020-21 | 42 | 6 | 9 | 2861' | 0 |
2021-22 | 27 | 1 | 9 | 1782' | 0 |
Total | 226 | 39 | 51 | 17492 | 2 |