It is hard to think of too many undoubted transfer success stories at Manchester United in recent times, with the Red Devils having far too regularly been made to pay for their seemingly scattergun approach in the transfer market.
A club with the highest net spend in Europe across the last decade, United have regularly sought out the marquee, big-money arrivals in their quest to close the cap on rivals Manchester City, albeit with those expensive outlays regularly coming back to bite them.
Among the current crop of first-team assets, for example, the Old Trafford outfit are now stuck with £80m dud Harry Maguire – despite Erik ten Hag's apparent desire to sell the Englishman – while £73m enigma Jadon Sancho also faces an uncertain future at the club after publicly biting back at his manager.
With exorbitant wages also dished out to boot on such underwhelming figures – with Maguire and Sancho raking in £190k-per-week and £250k-per-week, respectively – the United hierarchy have simply been bled dry far too often in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
That is also no doubt the case with regard to polarising midfielder, Paul Pogba, with the World Cup-winning Frenchman having arguably been something of a disastrous addition such were his on-field woes, controversies and overall cost throughout his time at the club.
Why did Pogba leave Man United in 2012?
It is almost easy to forget that the 6 foot 3 menace had begun his senior career on the books at Old Trafford after joining from Le Havre as a teenager, with the all-action maestro notably part of the side that won the FA Youth Cup in 2011, alongside the likes of Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison.
As club legend Paul Scholes has stated, the then-youngster had hoped to kick on in the following season and force his way into the first-team reckoning – particularly with Ferguson's side enduring something of a midfield injury crisis – yet the towering asset simply "wasn't doing well enough", hence the Englishman himself stepping out of retirement instead.
That may have been a final straw for Pogba as he subsequently opted to depart on a free in the summer of 2012 after making just seven first-team appearances, with a disappointed Ferguson stating that the emerging talent had shown "a lack of respect" amid his move to Serie A side, Juventus.
The legendary Scotsman was also seemingly furious at the time with the player's agent, Mino Raiola, for helping to engineer the switch to Turin, with the 13-time Premier League winner stating that he and the Italian were like 'oil and water' such were their differing views.
That somewhat controversial and sour exit should well have been the end of Pogba's association with United, yet the powers that be deemed it wise to bring him back to England just four years later…
How much did Man United pay for Pogba?
There was likely a sense of widespread frustration among those back in Manchester that the blossoming talent had managed to adapt so quickly to life in Italy, with Pogba going on to win four successive Scudetto's – notably registering 18 goals and assists in Serie A in 2015/16.
That standout form subsequently led then-boss Jose Mourinho to sanction the £89m return of the playmaking powerhouse in the summer of 2016, with that having been a world-record transfer at the time.
To have had to fork out so much for a player previously on the books at United represented something of an embarrassment, although those blushes were spared initially amid a strong debut campaign for the midfielder as the club won the League Cup and the Europa League.
Those early highs were as good as it got for the 91-cap international, in truth, with it quickly descending into a toxic period over the next few years as the player – and Raiola – regularly angled for a move away from the Theatre of Dreams.
How much did Pogba earn at Man United?
Reports as early as 2018 indicated that the enigmatic asset was intent on leaving the club in the hope of joining La Liga giants Barcelona, with things coming to a head with Mourinho after the pair were captured in a heated training ground bust-up in the early knockings of that 2018/19 campaign.
While Pogba outlasted the Portuguese tactician – memorably posting a cryptic Instagram post following the former Chelsea's man sacking – rumours of a possible departure continued into 2019, while Raiola again publicly stated in 2020 that a move away would be best for his client.
Such controversies off the field were not helped by the player's woes on it, with Pogba failing to inspire the club to further silverware as he proved a "big disappointment" overall, as per the aforementioned Scholes.
Although the Lagny-sur-Marne native did score 13 goals and register nine assists in the league in 2018/19 after finding a new lease of life under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that hot streak was not maintained across an injury-disrupted final few years.
2011/12
3
0
0
2016/17
30
5
4
2017/18
27
6
10
2018/19
35
13
9
2019/20
16
1
4
2020/21
26
3
5
2021/22
20
1
9
Stats via Transfermarkt
Things notably came to a head as the under-fire dud was booed off during the 3-2 win at home to Norwich City in April 2022, while his time at the club ebbed out with a whimper as he limped off in the eventual 4-0 defeat at Anfield at the tail-end of that miserable campaign.
Despite reports that United were bizarrely keen to hand him a new deal, Pogba returned to Juve that summer following the expiry of his contract, having hardly justified the £290k-per-week wage that he was taking home for much of his time in Manchester.
What was the total cost of Pogba's time at Man United?
Not only did United have to suffer the embarrassment of twice allowing the 30-year-old to leave on a free, the club were also forced to cough up a sizeable salary to a player who seemingly didn't want to be there for much of his six-year stay.
As per Capology, the experienced asset was a true financial burden as he commanded roughly £85.1m in wages prior to departing last year, which when added to his initial £89m transfer fee makes for an eye-watering total of £174.1m.
With just a Europa League and a League Cup to show for that investment, it is easy to suggest that such funds were rather squandered – particularly with the all-round baggage that Pogba provided – with former boxer and United fan Anthony Crolla describing the saga as "one of the worst pieces of business financially in history".
Now back in Italy, that return to the Allianz Stadium has not proven a happy one, however, as the under-fire figure has barely featured due to persistent injury woes, while he is also facing a potential ban from the game amid reports that he allegedly failed a drugs test last month.
For an undoubted "world-class", albeit problematic talent – as described by Scholes – that would be a sad way to bow out, yet for those of a United persuasion, they will likely just be thankful that he is no longer their problem.