Manchester United

Paul Scholes: 'Paul Pogba not playing well enough before Juventus move'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 18 February 2018

Paul Scholes claims that Paul Pogba was not playing well enough to make the Manchester United first team prior to his 2012 move to Juventus.

Paul Scholes has claimed that Paul Pogba was not playing well enough to make the Manchester United first team prior to his move to Juventus.

The Frenchman departed Old Trafford in 2012, having grown frustrated at his lack of first-team opportunities at Old Trafford.

Pogba went on to impress in Juve colours and was re-signed by Man United in 2016 for £89m, then a world-record fee.

Scholes's return to United in January 2012, six months after initially retiring, was widely reported as the key reason behind Pogba's decision to quit United.

However, the England legend has now suggested that Pogba was simply not good enough at the time, with Phil Jones previously ahead of him in the midfield pecking order.

"[Sir Alex] Ferguson wanted me initially to come back and coach the reserve team with Warren Joyce," Scholes told BT Sport. "I said in September I'd come back. So I started helping Joycey, and I was training with the reserves.

"I was training every day with the likes of Pogba, [Jesse] Lingard, all these types of players. They were a really good side and I was really enjoying training. I was getting fit, I felt great, and it got to December time and the team was struggling a bit.

"They had a load of injuries, no central midfield players were fit. They ended up playing Phil Jones and Fabio da Silva in central midfield in a game against Blackburn at Old Trafford.

"Funnily enough that was the end of Pogba, because he thought he should have been playing instead of them. But he wasn't doing well enough."

Scholes made his comeback in a 3-2 win over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in January 2012 and played on for another 18 months, helping United win the Premier League title in 2013.