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Reede õhtust lugemist, Telegraph käis Raiolaga rääkimas.
Mino Raiola says that Paul Pogba wants to stay at Manchester United and “win prizes” but the agent believes the club needs to support the midfielder more.
Raiola laid out Pogba’s feelings and frustrations about United and why he will not get “angry” with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because of the respect he had for him when they were players.
Raiola confirmed that Real Madrid had tried to sign the World Cup winner last summer but insisted that the 26 year-old would not push for a move and go against the United manager’s wishes.
Pogba returned to United for £89.3 million in 2016, four years after the midfielder left for Juventus, which remains the highest fee ever paid by a British club. “I think that Paul really went home,” Raiola says. “Paul could have gone elsewhere. But he really chose with his heart, to go home. Paul is a very, very nice person. For example, he’s not able to be angry at Ole because Ole treated him so good when Ole was an older player and Paul was a younger player and the respect and the love that he received from Ole means he cannot get angry at Ole.”
Pogba, who has only played six times this season so far, has been out injured since September with his comeback delayed after he missed two days training because of illness. He attended his brother’s wedding in France on Friday but needed a check-up with United’s doctor on Saturday with his symptoms worsening the following day.
“Paul wants to be successful and happy and wants to win prizes and he would love to do that with Manchester United,” Raiola says. “Okay there was big interest from Real Madrid and Manchester didn’t let him go. We didn’t make a fuss about it and he didn’t make a fuss about it because I work in accordance with the player.
“You know other players can bring things to extreme but Paul doesn’t like that. So you work differently. There was an interest from Real Madrid but they (United) didn’t let him go and I’m sorry because I think that Paul being French then (Zinedine) Zidane is an important factor in French football history. But Paul is not the guy I hear about from (Gary) Neville and all the frustrated ex-players who say, ‘he should be ashamed of this, ashamed of that’. Ashamed of what? He is working every day and doing his best. He’s not complaining there is no Champions League. Is he perfect? Nobody is. Is he also responsible for failure? He feels so. If you are in a team you are responsible for failure.”
One issue highlighted by Raiola is his belief that United need a sporting director, something the club has spoken about for some time without, yet, making an appointment.
“The club needs a specialist, a sports director, someone between the team, the coach and the owners, someone who can bridge the sides,” he said. “Today you need that specialist because the coach has no time to manage scouts and other tasks and I feel that is lacking at Manchester United.
“In truth I look at Manchester United and think that they have more an American mentality than a European one. By that I mean that sometimes it seems the club is more concerned about the economic part than the sports part and that is a very American way of thinking. They need someone to connect the economic side and the sports side.”
With that in mind the argument is that United, maybe, are lacking an identity. “Players that make a team, that fit it, that fit a philosophy, and Manchester United in this way is looking for a philosophy,” Raiola says. “People think I hate (Sir Alex) Ferguson. I don’t hate Ferguson or (Pep) Guardiola. I don’t hate anyone. I teach my sons the same: no hate. That negative energy is not allowed in my life.”
Raiola and Ferguson clashed over Pogba’s departure from United in 2012, but the agent says: “At least when Ferguson was there you saw it was his team – the way they played, pro-active, and the players that came in came in with an eye on how to play that game.”
Raiola believes United do not have that at present. “Is there a better midfielder (than Pogba) in the world? No!” he says. “If you come to that conclusion then the other conclusion is - now if you sell Paul Pogba would you buy a better one? No! Where is he? But if you create your identity then maybe you discover that Paul is ideal. If you, say, want to play with two holding midfielders then where does Paul play? In several positions.
“So I say, make your identity of what you want your club to be and then find the ‘Lego’ parts for it. Then it’s easy to say, ‘if we play 4-3-3 and one holding midfielder then who is the best to play here and there?’ You need that clarity. A big club chooses the system and then chooses the players. They don’t say, ‘we choose the system because of the players’. And then you say, ‘we create the players’.
“(Jurgen) Klopp and Guardiola have a clear thing, of definition, of identity. You know if a player fits them or not. Or you even say different, ‘this is a player for Klopp or for Guardiola’. And tell me the player who you would like for Manchester United? You don’t know because you don’t know the definition of Manchester United. The identity you don’t know.”
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