Gianluigi Buffon SLAMS Sir Alex for letting Paul Pogba quit Manchester United - 7M sport

Gianluigi Buffon SLAMS Sir Alex for letting Paul Pogba quit Manchester United



Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 by Express.co.uk

GIANLUIGI BUFFON has delivered a scathing "you must have needed specs" message to Sir Alex Ferguson for letting Paul Pogba quit Manchester United.

Juventus goalkeeper Buffon has seen France midfielder Pogba, 22, develop into one of the world's best players less than three years after his controversial exit from Old Trafford.

And he still cannot believe United lacked vision and failed to do more to keep Pogba, who walked out on a free transfer frustrated by his lack of first-team opportunities and unhappy at the terms of the new contract he had been offered.

Pogba will help Juve's bid to reach the Champions League final on Wednesday with Buffon saying: "I have been in football many years, but the decision of Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United to not play Pogba and let him leave is one of the strangest decisions I have ever seen.

"Just after a few training sessions we saw how good he was, it cannot have been the same player they saw in Manchester – we thought they may be needed glasses.

"I have never seen a player who is so good at his age, he is so strong, so technically gifted, has exceptional all-round play.

"Pogba can do things only Pogba can, similar to Messi and Ronaldo. United let one of the top players in the world leave, but that has only been good news for us."

Gianluigi Buffon SLAMS Sir Alex for letting Paul Pogba quit Manchester United
Gianluigi Buffon has slammed Sir Alex Ferguson for letting Paul Pogba leave Manchester United

Buffon rubbed salt into United's wounds by insisting that if Pogba leaves Juve this summer he is likely to command a new world-record fee, in stark contrast to the £1m compensation for development costs they received for a player who never made a first-team start and was restricted to seven appearances off the bench.

United's neighbours Manchester City are now leading a queue of the world's top clubs trying to sign Pogba.

"Of course he will be linked with the teams with big money like Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG and City but at the moment he is achieving dreams at Juventus," added Buffon.

"If any team wanted to buy him I would feel sure that they would have to break the world-record fee.

"It is not up to me to speak about his future, only he can decide that. What I can say is he is very happy at Juventus - we see that every day."

Paul Scholes, however, has defended his former club's hard-line stance on Pogba, then a teenager in United's reserve team.

He said: "When I first retired in the summer of 2011, I spent the start of the next season working with Warren Joyce, the coach of the Under-21s.

"Paul was in that squad and the truth is that while he obviously had bags of potential, he was not really playing well enough in that period up to Christmas 2011 to warrant a place in the first-team squad on a permanent basis, let alone start games.

Gianluigi Buffon SLAMS Sir Alex for letting Paul Pogba quit Manchester United
Paul Pogba left Manchester United in 2012

"Although I never spoke to Sir Alex about the details, the understanding in the dressing room was that Paul's advisers just asked for too much money for his next professional deal.

"They wanted first-team money for a player who was not in the first team at that stage.

"United felt that was not right and stuck to their principles.

"He left that summer and very quickly established himself at Juventus, which can happen."

Pogba made a scoring return at the weekend after six weeks out with a thigh injury and his presence in the Bernabeu tonight is a huge boost for Juve, who will be defending a 2-1 first-leg lead as they bid to reach their first final for 12 years.



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