Paul Pogba’s former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand has spoken out ahead of the Frenchman’s proposed return to the club.
The 23-year-old is expected to move back to Old Trafford imminently, with the Red Devils paying Juventus a widely reported fee of around £100million.
To tempt him to try his luck for a second time in the Premier League, United are also set to make him one of the highest-paid players in their history with a weekly wage of over £200,000.
However, Ferdinand insists that Pogba’s motivation in football has nothing to do with money, and everything to do with being the best player in the world.
Speaking to the Mirror, the former England international said:
“For Paul, it’s all about football. It’s not about money.
“The biggest thing for me and my family [when I moved to United] was not the money. It was: ‘What’s Giggsy like? What’s Roy Keane like?’
“Paul’s like that. He loves football. It’s all about improving and being the best.”
The eyes of the football world will be on the midfielder if he does become the world’s most expensive player as expected. A great deal of pressure goes with that, but he has shown at Juve that he has the swagger to deal with it.
Rival fans are sure to target the superstar because of his price tag, but his move to United will only be worth it if he can steer them away from the mediocrity that has engulfed them for the last three years.
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