Oh to be a fly on the wall in the room that Alex Ferguson and Mino Raiola occupied when they attempted to hash out a contract renewal for Paul Pogba.
Pogba left Manchester United in less than favourable circumstances back in 2012, when the club and player could not agree on a new deal after the midfielder had made three appearances for the Red Devils.
The potential in Pogba was clear for all to see and his agent, Mino Raiola, quickly pushed for a pay-rise for his client.
And that’s when it all kicked off.
In an interview with The Financial Times, Raiola – agent to the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Balotelli and Romelu Lukaku – has detailed the tense meeting between himself, Pogba and then manager of United, Alex Ferguson.
According to Raiola, the Scot refused to talk to him without Pogba in the room and once the French youngster entered, this is how the interaction played out.
Ferguson to Pogba: “You don’t want to sign this contract?”
Pogba: “We’re not going to sign this contract under these conditions.”
Ferguson to Raiola: “You’re a twat.”
That wasn’t the only utterance of “twat” that day as the temperamental manager also fell back on his go-to insult once Raiola insisted that he would not allow his pet chihuahuas to agree to the contract that was on offer.
Ferguson: “What do you think he needs to earn?”
Raiola: “Not that.”
Ferguson: “You’re a twat.”
Twat or not, Raiola clearly knows what he’s doing as his working relationship with Pogba led to a tasty €27 million commission appearing in his bank account after brokering the midfielder’s return to United in the summer.
After starring for Juventus, the club he left Old Trafford for, Pogba was able to command a record-breaking fee in August and Raiola did incredibly well for himself once pen was put to paper.
As for Ferguson, we reckon his “twat” count has gone down quite a bit since he left the stressful world of football management.
Colm Parkinson is joined by Paul Rouse for a heated debate about Sky Sports’ five-year GAA deal and an exclusive chat with AFL star Zach Tuohy on the new GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes
