Manchester United news: Sir Alex Ferguson ‘branded super agent Mino Raiola a t***’ during bust-up which resulted in Paul Pogba leaving for Juventus in 2012
Pogba left United on a free transfer after playing just three Premier League games for the Red Devils
SIR ALEX FERGUSON branded super-agent Mino Raiola a ‘t***’ during a bust-up which led to Paul Pogba leaving Manchester United in 2012.
The legendary United boss, 74, saw Pogba depart for Juventus after he rejected signing a new contract at Old Trafford.
And the Frenchman’s agent Raiola has revealed how the Scot made his feelings abundantly clear during contract talks four years ago.
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After requesting that Pogba be in the room at all times for the talks, Fergie wanted to know why the youngster – who at the time had played just three Premier League games – was planning on turning down the lucrative deal.
Raiola told the that Fergie asked Pogba: “Do you want to sign this contract?”
The Frenchman replied: “We’re not going to sign this contract under these conditions.”
Sir Alex then reportedly turned to his agent Raiola and told him: “You’re a t***. What do you think he needs to earn?”
In his book ‘Leading’, Fergie was scathing of agents in general but Raiola came in for special criticism.
He wrote: “There are one or two football agents I simply do not like.
“And Mino Raiola, Paul Pogba’s agent, is one of them.
“I distrusted him from the moment I met him. He became Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s agent while he was playing for Ajax, and eventually he would end up representing Pogba, who was only 18-years-old at the time.
“We had Paul under a three-year contract, and it had a one-year renewal option which we were eager to sign. But Raiola suddenly appeared on the scene and our first meeting was a fiasco.
“He and I were like oil and water. From then on, our goose was cooked because Raiola had been able to ingratiate himself with Paul and his family and the player signed with Juventus.”
Pogba returned to United for a world record fee of £89million in the summer but has so far struggled to find the form which made him one of the world’s most complete midfielders at Juve.