Paul Pogba was reportedly working on a return to Old Trafford in 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson was no longer in charge. Calling the shot then for Manchester United was David Moyes, who, according to reports, was not too keen to re-hire. Instead, the Scot worked to sign Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona, but that deal fell through.
In hindsight, the former Everton boss missed out on signing two midfielders that ended up winning titles for the clubs they joined up with instead. And Moyes was booted out just 10 months after taking over from Ferguson.
However, Moyes had his reason for passing up on the chance to bring Pogba back. The Frenchman left in 2012 for Juventus but sent out feelers to the Red Devils that he was willing to rejoin the club after only 12 months.
According to Metro, citing the report from The Athletic, the former United boss had reservations on working with Pogba, who opted to leave following disputes with Ferguson. Moyes was not sure in 2013 that hiring the French midfielder anew was the right thing to do.
The coach was concerned about Pogba's ambitions at that time, the report added, and Moyes was equally wary of dealing with the player's agent. Mino Raiola. The boss feared that even if Pogba will want to work with United again, the Frenchman was not in for the long haul.
Moyes' key objective in taking the job that Ferguson vacated just months before was to rebuild, and he decided that a player like Pogba cannot be depended on. So the manager looked elsewhere and thought Fabregas would be the better fit.
In the summer of 2013, Moyes made a bid on Fabregas and was ready to pay Barcelona £25 million. The deal, however, was not completed, and the Scot was left with just one signing for that transfer window. He acquired Marouane Fellaini for £28 million but neglected to take advantage of the Belgian's exit clause that could have saved United millions in transfer fee.
The signing slips piled up on Moyes as United also missed out on other targets as well, like getting back Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid and adding Gareth Bale to the roster. That is why it came as no surprise that the Scot did not last long.
Meanwhile, both Pogba and Fabregas pursued successful campaigns and win titles. The latter made his way back to the Premier League and signed up with Chelsea.
Mirror said Pogba played for three more seasons with Juventus then jumped back to United in 2016 with Moyes no longer around. Apart from winning titles for both Turin and the Red Devils, the midfielder also played for France that won the World Cup in 2018, as if proving that Moyes doubting him was a huge misstep.
