Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that he risked getting fired earlier had he mishandled Paul Pogba during his tenure with the Red Devils. Bar the non-performance of his side, the 56-year-old Portuguese coach is believed to have been shown the exit door as a result of his failed relationship with the French star.
The pair were involved in numerous scuffles, one which resulted in the ex-Juventus star being stripped off his vice captaincy. Having revealed the existence of player power in the Manchester United dressing room back in January, Mourinho has elaborated further by detailing a thrilling event where Paul Pogba asked to ride in his chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce instead of traveling back on the team bus following last season's away win over Burnley.
Speaking under a coaching seminar in Portugal, Mourinho sarcastically referred to Pogba as "His Excellency" and asserted that he could have possible been sent packing had he stood in the way of the Frenchman's demand.
"We would play a team that was 30 kilometers from Manchester and a player asked me if after the game he could return to Manchester without the team and go on his own," Mourinho began, making reference to Paul Pogba at Burnley.
"I told him, 'If we went to London and you wanted to stay there, that would be one thing. But this is close, it doesn't make sense'.
"The guy was upset. But then we won the game and he asked me again. Because I was happy, I gave in a little and said, 'At least leave on the bus and ask your chauffeur to catch up with you 10 minutes from the stadium, then go as you wish'.
"And this guy in the locker-room still wasn't happy. I went to the press conference and when I arrived at the team bus, parked beside it was a Rolls-Royce with his chauffeur.
"After all, the car was new and His Excellency would like to leave the stadium in his Rolls-Royce. Now how do we deal with this? You [tell him] never go in the Rolls? You can go when I'm happy? Or you solve this thing in another way to get me 'on vacation'."
Meanwhile, Paul Pogba is back in the news after supposedly angering Manchester United fans by flirting with the idea of joining Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.
