Paul Pogba was almost a Barcelona player, as the Catalan giants revealed that prior to joining Manchester United for a world-record fee, Juventus had already agreed a deal that gave Barcelona the right of first refusal a year prior, but the La Liga champions opted to purchase Andre Gomes instead, citing sporting reasons.
Manchester United eventually paid a stunning world record fee for Pogba, bringing him to the Premier League for a princely sum of €105 million. However, Andre Gomes moved from Valencia to Barcelona for €35 million, with about €20 million in potential addons.
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Speaking to The Mirror, Barcelona’s club director of sporting relations, Albert Soler, said “Last year we reached a deal with Juventus for us to have a priority option when they sold Pogba. This summer we decided that there were players that suited us better on a sporting level.”
Luis Enrique was reportedly very happy with Ivan Rakitic in the box-to-box role, and prioritized someone in the mould of an Andres Iniesta, with Andre Gomes fitting the bill, although Paul Pogba could also have relished a similar role at Barcelona.
Soler also went on to explain the rationale behind having the agreement with Juventus, saying “The idea of the board was that nobody would be able to get ahead of us in the market. It allowed us to have options.”
Pogba enjoying life at Old Trafford
Real Madrid were rumoured to be heavily interested in signing Paul Pogba, and Barcelona’s agreement with Juventus was perhaps a pre-emptive move to prevent their hated rivals from strengthening. However, since Barcelona apparently informed Juventus of their decision not to sign Pogba in February, Madrid still stood a chance to sign the Frenchman in the summer.
As it stands, Pogba did eventually end up with Manchester United for a world record fee. The Frenchman has enjoyed a bright start to life under Jose Mourinho, impressing in his debut for the club and displaying his skill set which seems perfectly suited for the Premier League as Manchester United made an encouraging start to the Premier League.
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Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United are the only clubs remaining with a perfect start to the Premier League. However, United’s title rivals were incredibly active in a frantic end to the transfer window, while Manchester United opted against bringing anyone in after completing Pogba’s signature.
To think that he nearly joined an already fantastic Barcelona squad is a sobering thought indeed.
