Paul Pogba to Manchester United: Jose Mourinho hails ‘amazing’ signing

PAUL POGBA can fulfil his dream of becoming the world’s best player by returning to his former club Manchester United, his manager-in-waiting Jose Mourinho declared on Sunday.

Pogba, 23, is close to returning to Old Trafford for a reported world-record fee of 89 million pounds ($116.4 million, 105 million euros) after United and Juventus confirmed he was due to undergo a medical.

The France midfielder makes no secret of his desire to usurp Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the world’s foremost player and Mourinho believes he will achieve that ambition at United.

“I think United is the perfect club to bring him to the level that he wants to be,” Mourinho said after United beat Leicester City 2-1 at Wembley in the season-opening Community Shield.

“The Premier League is the perfect habitat for that. If you want to be the best player in the world, I think if you go to Barcelona or to Real Madrid, you are in trouble.

“Because I don’t think the other two big guys will let you develop to that level.

“Here he has the conditions to develop in the most seen worldwide championship, which is absolutely incredible, with a team that wants to bring Man United to the top again.

“So we have everything to give him and we know the reasons why he wants to come to us. Money he will get from any big club. That’s not the point.

“He comes because he knows the club, knows the city, knows many of the players. He wants to be an important part of the Man United project. So hopefully everything goes well and he comes into our team.” Mourinho had earlier told BT Sport: “It’s amazing that such a good player is with us. Finally we have him.” The transfer saga took a huge step forward when Juventus announced they had granted permission for Pogba to undergo a medical at United, the club he left four years ago.

- ‘Talk very soon’ -

United confirmed the news with a short statement on their club website saying the medical would enable Pogba to “finalise his transfer from Juventus to Manchester United”.

Pogba, who was part of the France side that lost to Portugal in the Euro 2016 final last month, tweeted enigmatically: “When too many people talk nobody understands -- talk very soon.” Early signs that a deal was imminent came when Pogba did not travel with the Juventus squad to London for their 3-2 friendly win over West Ham United on Sunday.

Media reports said he had already arrived in Manchester.