Patrice Evra convinced Man Utd made £89m transfer to 'humiliate' Sir Alex Ferguson

Patrice Evra claims that Manchester United's £89million re-signing of Paul Pogba was an act to "humiliate" Sir Alex Ferguson. Pogba's return to Old Trafford, according to Evra, was more about settling scores than footballing strategy.

The French star left United in 2012 after a fallout with Ferguson, only to be brought back at a record fee four years later as one of Europe's most coveted talents. Evra alleges that United's decision to splash out on Pogba was driven by spite towards Ferguson, who had let him go for free.

In a candid chat on The Overlap, Evra said: "Manchester United brought Paul Pogba back because they wanted to humiliate Sir Alex Ferguson," before adding: "I told Paul to not go back because he wanted Real Madrid and Madrid wanted him, but Florentino Perez didn't want to pay the money.

"His agent called United, and he signed without telling me. The club was happy because they were selling shirts, you know the kids love Pogba it was more commercial than anything on the pitch."

However, history repeated itself ten years later in 2022, as Pogba once again absconded to Juventus on a free transfer after failing to live up to his extravagant price tag. Evra, who saw himself as Pogba's protector in Turin, believed that Pogba was also misstepping off the pitch despite his sporting struggles.

Discussing his role in Pogba's life, Evra said: "It's not about being a big fan of Paul Pogba, it's about being his big brother." He added: "It's about protecting him. I was harsh with him when I joined Juventus. One day, he said to the press, 'I deserve to win the Ballon d'Or'.

"I was like, 'Wait a minute, did you ever hear [Frank] Lampard saying that, did you ever hear [Andres] Iniesta, Xavi or whatever?' And, I'm like, 'Calm down, you're not ready for that'." Speaking about Paul's public demeanour compared to his inner self, Evra continued: "With Paul, you see him like that, but inside, he's not that strong, and he's protecting himself, and that's why I tried to protect Paul because sometimes it [the criticism of him] was unfair."

Evra lamented how people were more focused on Pogba's hair and dance moves than his performance on the field, even blaming him for United's losses when he wasn't playing.

Pogba is understood to disagree with and reject Evra's version of numerous events - including the claim about deserving the Ballon d'Or - mentioned during his appearance on The Overlap.