Manchester United Transfer News: Examining Rumours of Possible Paul Pogba Return

When Paul Pogba left Manchester United in 2012, most Red Devils supporters knew it was a massive mistake by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Here was a young man, clearly with God-given talent, who would develop into a world star in no time at all.

And the most probable script is one Pogba followed, fleeing the Carrington nest to find refuge in Turin, becoming a bona fide hero for Juventus.

But now David Wright of the Daily Express says United want their prodigy back. And in this time of Old Trafford Galactico-style spending, the Glazer family will break the bank to capture the young Frenchman.

Wright says United have set aside £77 million to buy Pogba from the Italian giants after the player walked away for nothing just two and a half years ago. 

Of course, we are now in the season of wild transfer rumours with the January transfer window wide open. But even at such an amazing price, Pogba's capture would make complete sense.

Sir Alex recognised the talent and ability Pogba possessed from a young age. But for an unknown reason, he did not give the player his chance when most thought the most logical step was to play the teenager.

There may be underlying reasons and influences why Pogba decided to leave the Premier League—the richest and most revered on the planet—for a life in a La Liga competition past its sell-by date, but the facts remain Pogba was groomed to run United's midfield but simply never got the chance.

Fabrizio Giovannozzi/Associated Press

Pogba excelled in the centre of the park for Juve last term, playing 36 times in the domestic league, scoring seven times and providing seven assists, per WhoScored.com (all this at the tender age of 20 years old). 

Now that Ferguson has gone, Louis van Gaal's restructuring of United demands the coach needs a top class, energetic and skilful central midfielder, and Pogba is not far off being the best money can buy at present.

Joe Wright of Goal.com recently quoted United legend Patrice Evra, who has formed a close relationship with Pogba, both during their time at Old Trafford and now together in Italy.

Evra said to La Repubblica that Pogba "cried" at the thought of leaving United and that Ferguson asked his left-back to convince the youngster to stay, per Wright.

"La Pioche [Pogba] is like a son to me," Evra said. "Ferguson sent me to his house to convince him to stay. He cried, he couldn't sleep. He knew he could become greater than [Patrick] Vieira, but he had decided. Ferguson also knew Pogba could become very strong, but he couldn't force the issue."

Jon Super/Associated Press

However, Pogba himself tells a slightly different version of the story and proclaimed before the World Cup last year that Manchester United "disrespected" him, forcing him to find first-team football elsewhere.

Speaking to BBC World's Football Focus, per Jack de Menezes of The Independent, Pogba insinuates that he did not want to leave United but had his hand forced by Ferguson's non-selection:

"

They left me out because they said I wanted to leave. That is disrespect. Maybe they didn't think if they were making a mistake. Manchester United is a big club but you have to think about yourself.

You have to play. The coach told me there would be space to play, but I wasn't playing. I was training alone for one week. They told me to go in the gym. I said: 'I am not an athlete, I am a footballer.'

"

Fabrizio Giovannozzi/Associated Press

All of this makes one wonder if there is a route back to United for Pogba even with huge amounts of cash on the table. Would the Frenchman be more tempted to a move to one of Spain's superclubs than revisiting old ground in the north-west of England?

Without knowing the answers to these questions, United should move heaven and earth to get Pogba to re-sign with the club.

Ferguson's influence on policy has evaporated since the summer and the failed tenure of David Moyes, and Van Gaal has already proved he can obtain the best with the captures of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao.

If LvG does want a Galactico-style team, he needs a marquee midfielder who can cope with the physical demands of English football. It is interesting that Evra mentions Vieira in his comments because Pogba is so much more in terms of style and craft.

Vieira was world class at what he did in the Premier League, but Pogba arguably has more potential as a genuine box-to-box entity than the Arsenal man ever had.

£77 million is a crazy sum of money, but if United need to gamble on a player who comes with a big price tag, that player should be Paul Pogba.