RIO FERDINAND SAYS Paul Pogba can become the best player in the world, and believes Manchester United made a huge mistake by letting him leave on a free transfer to join Juventus in 2012.
The French midfielder, who has developed into one of the most coveted midfielders on the planet during his time in Italy, is set to feature in the Champions League final this weekend, with Massimiliano Allegri’s side facing off against Luis Enrique’s Barcelona in Berlin.
Manchester City have been heavily linked with a bid for Pogba, while PSG are understood to have agreed a £58 million fee with Juve for the 22-year-old, and Ferdinand is unsurprised by the attention being afforded to his former team-mate, whom he says can win the Ballon d’Or by 2019.
“I’m not surprised Paul Pogba is being talked of as a £70m player — neither am I surprised that teams like Manchester City want to sign him,” he wrote in The Sun.
“In fact I would confidently predict that, provided he stays injury-free, Pogba will be the world player of the year within the next four years. Yes, he is that good.
“As a former team-mate of the Frenchman’s at Manchester United, I saw first-hand what Pogba could do and what a top player he could become.”
Ferdinand says that he attempted to convince Pogba to stay at Old Trafford when the midfielder grew frustrated at his lack of first-team opportunities, and believes that United’s failure to retain him has come back to haunt the club.
“When he started talking about leaving United I decided to take matters into my own hands and pulled him aside to give him the hard word,” he continued.
“I desperately wanted Paul to stay at Old Trafford and asked him what the hell he was doing. I then said to him: ‘What do you want?’ and his reply was: ‘I want to be the best player in the world.’
“For me United was the best place to do that. I told him that everything he needed was right there and that his time would come.
“But he wasn’t having it, he had to play and felt he should be playing and had made up his mind to go.
“I knew if he left it would come back to bite United on the backside.
“It was about timing really. The manager wasn’t quite ready to start Paul in the team every week and he wasn’t prepared to wait because he was impatient to get on with it.
“Now he’s in [tonight's] Champions League final and understandably feels vindicated in his decision.”
