Pogba: Mourinho relationship was a ‘nightmare’ at Man United

Paul Pogba has claimed his relationship with former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho was a ‘nightmare’ but that he wants to give him a ‘big hug’ to make up.

The Frenchman arrived at Old Trafford for £89million as Mourinho’s marquee signing in 2016 but their relationship was tumultuous and became frayed.

With questions over the midfielder’s attitude, Mourinho stripped him of the vice-captaincy, called him a ‘virus’ in front of the squad, and left him on the bench for his final game in charge, a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool in December 2018.

Now, in an exclusive tell-all interview with Mail Sport, Pogba says they were ‘like boyfriend and girlfriend’ and admitted he wants to reconcile with the manager. 

‘Our relationship was like boyfriend and girlfriend, we were breaking up and making up all the time,’ Pogba told Mail Sport’s Sami Mokbel.

Paul Pogba has told Mail Sport his relationship with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United was like ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ and that he wants to ‘hug’ his old manager after the ‘nightmare’ 

The Frenchman had arrived at Old Trafford as Mourinho’s marquee £89m 2016 summer buy

However, their relationship splintered as he questioned Mourinho’s tactics and the Portuguese boss labelled him a ‘virus’ in front of the squad

‘It started great, he was one of the reasons I went back to Manchester because I spoke to him and he convinced me to come back.

‘I don’t know why it turned into a nightmare and us fighting. Because I wasn’t fighting. I didn’t start the fight.

‘We disagreed like managers and players do sometimes. But there’s a lot of respect from me to him.

‘If I see him tomorrow it’s a big hug! But one day we will have to sit down together and discuss it.’

Pogba had been publicly critical of Mourinho’s conservative tactics with the Red Devils and after the Portuguese was sacked, he posted a picture of a knowing expression on his face, writing ‘caption this’.

Even by the time Mourinho was managing Tottenham, Pogba was still firing shots against his former manager. 

In April 2021 he suggested Mourinho could treat players like they ‘don’t exist’ whereas Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, in his view, ‘wouldn’t go against the players’.

Pogba’s interview with Mail Sport is his first and only one with a UK newspaper since he had his football ban reduced. 

Pogba’s Mail Sport interview is his first with a UK outlet after his football ban was reduced

Despite their feud and war of words, he insists there is a lot of ‘respect’ between the pair

Pogba is poised to leave Juventus and will be free to play again from March 2025

In February Pogba, then 30, was slapped with a four-year ban from football after failing a drugs test in August 2023 – potentially a career-ender. 

He tested positive for testosterone after Juventus’s first game of the 2023-24 season against Udinese, and was given his hefty punishment by an anti-doping prosecutor’s office in Italy.

However, as Mail Sport exclusively revealed earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced his ban to 18 months after an appeal, meaning he can play again in March 2025, with training permitted from January.