Barcelona wanted to sign Paul Pogba in 2016 before he joined Manchester United, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu has claimed.
In an interview with ESPN, Josep Maria Bartomeu has made some interesting claims about Paul Pogba’s transfer to Manchester United in the summer of 2016. The Barcelona president has revealed that the La Liga champions were in the running to sign the French superstar before bowing out because they did not have sufficient funds to bankroll the move.
Paul Pogba may have been frustratingly inconsistent since returning to Manchester United in the summer of 2016. But, it goes without saying that the Frenchman has been one of the most important players for the Premier League heavyweights over the last three years.
Pogba though, could well have been turning out for Barcelona at the present moment, with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu claiming that the Blaugrana were interested in signing the 26-year-old before being beaten by Manchester United.
“In the summer of 2015, Paul Pogba was playing in Turin and we simply told Juve that, if one day they decide to sell the player, we would be interested. When they sold the player, they told us what the offer would have to be and we couldn’t afford that amount of money at the time.”
“So he went to United, and he’s making them better as a team because he’s one of the stars of the world of football right now,” the Barcelona president said before he was asked about possibly still being keen on signing Pogba to which he replied, “I prefer not to talk about players from other teams because I am sure there are also players at Barca that can make other teams better.”
Back in 2016, had Pogba made his way to Barcelona, he could perhaps have been a top notch signing for the La Liga champions, as he could have made the kind of impact that Paulinho and Arturo Vidal haven’t in the final third, although his defensive contribution might have been suspect.
Barcelona were reportedly keen on signing the Manchester United superstar last summer. But, with Arthur already in the first-team squad, and Frenkie de Jong set to make his way to Camp Nou in the summer, the Catalans’ midfield will be stacked next term, meaning they are unlikely to revisit their interest in the Frenchman.
Manchester United though, remain concerned, as far as Pogba’s future is concerned, with Real Madrid reportedly interested in signing him. But, Los Blancos might not have even been in the hunt for the 26-year-old had Barcelona snapped him up three years ago, and one can only wonder how that would have panned out.
