Manchester United owe Paul Pogba a debt of gratitude for the role he played in convincing Romelu Lukaku to choose Old Trafford over Chelsea.
Perhaps Paul Pogba has taken lessons in the art of persuasion from his super-agent representative Mino Raiola, having managed to convince close friend Romelu Lukaku to join Manchester United.
The Red Devils beat Chelsea to the signing of the £75million Belgium striker, who has already scored twice in pre-season for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Having been discarded by Mourinho in his first spell at Stamford Bridge, Lukaku may have been expected to leave Everton for another crack at the Blues under Antonio Conte.
But Lukaku has revealed how a string of Pogba detours to see the famous façade of Old Trafford helped to make up his mind.
“I spoke with Paul a lot, obviously,”
Lukaku told MUTV of his decision process. “We spent our holiday together and he said: ‘What do you want to do?’
“I told him that I was thinking a lot about signing for United, something was telling me [to do it].
“I live near Manchester so, when I was coming to the city, I would drive past Old Trafford and ask my mates what they thought.
“Me and Paul, we’d go to the city to have dinner and he’d drive past Old Trafford on purpose!”
A Belgian Pro League title with Anderlecht and an FA Cup winner’s medal from his Chelsea days represent the sum of Lukaku’s honours in his career – a collection he hopes to boost significantly with United.
“That’s what I came here for,” Lukaku said. “Manchester United, for me, equals trophies. The biggest club in the world equals trophies.
“Growing up, I’ve seen United win the league every year, almost! You want to be a part of that history; it’s drilled into your head when you do training sessions with the players, you don’t want to be on the losing side.
“You want to win constantly and improve year after year. That is something that I wanted to feel.
“I wanted to feel that pressure, I wanted to feel that hunger – to be here now, I’m really grateful.
“I’m grateful to be part of the biggest club in the world, but there is a lot of work to be done, and I know that I need to work much harder than I have until now.”
