EPL: How Manchester United forced Mourinho to sign Pogba

Jose Mourinho’s Adviser, Eladio Parames, has revealed that he was coerced into signing Paul Pogba from Juventus for a world record fee then.

In his weekly column for Portuguese paper ‘Record’, Parames — who describes himself as “the former spokesman for the best coach in the world but never his former friend”, claims United ignored his desire to bring a “terrier” midfielder.

He wrote: “It’s no coincidence that both have already been severely criticised by several coaches.

“Of course, some will ask whether the person who hired them did not know what their personalities were like.

In his weekly column for Portuguese paper ‘Record’, Parames — who describes himself as “the former spokesman for the best coach in the world but never his former friend”, claims United ignored his desire to bring a “terrier” midfielder.

He wrote: “It’s no coincidence that both have already been severely criticised by several coaches.

“Of course, some will ask whether the person who hired them did not know what their personalities were like.

“Yes is the answer, but sometimes there are reasons beyond sports that lead the clubs, and not always the coaches, to gamble on hiring them.

“Pogba, for example, is worth a lot in the advertising market, so much so that in just six months Manchester United had already recovered what they had invested in him.

“However, without ‘terriers’ like Matuidi and Kante at his side, he is worth ­virtually nothing on the field.

“Man United did not give Mourinho ‘terriers’ despite advice given to Woodward last summer.

“And as a result, we had to see Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay acting as central defenders against Southampton.

“And Mourinho had to watch as Pogba became the player who most often lost the ball and was dispossessed, in a single game, in all Premier League matches this season. A great record!”