Vinyard owner and beard connoisseur Andrea Pirlo has revealed his first impressions of Paul Pogba when the Frenchman joined Pirlo at Juventus back in 2012.
The former Italy international revealed that he and his teammates in Turin were bewildered that Alex Ferguson and United had somehow conspired to let Pogba, then just 19, leave Old Trafford:
I will always remember the first day he had training at Juventus. He was only young, but we could see he was special.
There was almost a disbelief that Manchester United had let this player go.
The 37-year-old Pirlo, who spent three years alongside Pogba at Juve, believes his former midfield partner will live up to his world record-breaking, £89m transfer fee, and insists that Pogba's age makes him a solid investment for José Mourinho's side:
A lot of people have a lot to say about what the fee could be and if he’s worth it. But when you pay a big fee you just have to ask one question – can this player play a big part in us winning trophies? If he can do that then it will always be worth it for the buying club.
We know Pogba can do this and we know he can do it for a lot of years to come.
Pirlo also insists Pogba will be entirely indifferent to his price tag, suggesting the former former United midfielder will instead be focused solely on his on-field endeavours:
One of the biggest misconceptions is that players care about transfer fees. For a player, they do not care at all. They do not care if they move clubs for one million, 10 million, or 100 million euros. That is just something a player leaves to his agent and the clubs.
As a player, you just want to be at a club where you can achieve everything you want to.
Pirlo once described Pogba as the best young midfielder he had ever seen, and gave the above glowing reference to The Mirror. Check out the full interview here.
