“We were like oil and water” is how Sir Alex Ferguson described meeting Paul Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, back in 2012. “I distrusted him from the moment I met him.”
So why, eight underwhelming years later (and seven since Fergie left), is Raiola still being allowed to pour oil on Manchester United’s troubled waters?
Blame for United’s latest car crash is still being apportioned among the usual suspects. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer cops a fair bit with his team selection in Leipzig as well as his tactics. Were there any?
So do a flaky David de Gea, a bewildered Aaron Wan-Bissaka and a dithering Harry Maguire. And, of course, Ed Woodward and the Glazers.
But a significant number of fingers are pointing at the man Fergie saw as an agent provocateur, and who now counts Al Capone’s old Florida lair as one of his boltholes.
Raiola’s claim on the eve of United’s biggest match of the season that Pogba “needs a new team, a change of air” certainly released toxic fumes into the dressing room.
The Frenchman had just produced his best display for two seasons in the win against West Ham, and a fabulous goal. Some even wondered if it was a turning point.
It might have been if he’d condemned his agent’s comments, but a player who seldom punches his weight on the field was never going to round on the man who has made him rich.
Solskjaer was put in an impossible position. Pogba was seen as crucial if United were to progress to the business end of the Champions League.
And we know how important business is to Woodward and the Glazers.
The manager’s natural instinct was to drop the player and offload. But, Ole being Ole, he came up with a half-baked solution of sticking him on the bench. “Purely tactical”, of course.
To be fair, Pogba, in his unaccustomed role as the cavalry, came close to pulling off a rescue. But United’s social distancing defenders had given the German side an unassailable three-goal start.
And now Solskjaer finds himself in the worst of both worlds: out of the Big Boys’ tournament and his authority diminished.
For Raiola to choose this moment to amplify his player’s discontent was just the kind of thing Fergie had feared he was capable of back in 2012.
Even though the manager saw Pogba as a future star, he lanced the boil before it could fester, shipping the Frenchman out for a token fee in typically ruthless fashion.
It cost United £89 million to bring him back in 2016 but the damage to forging the kind of spirit and coherent thrust on the field that were Fergie era hallmarks, is many times that.
To add insult to injury, Raiola somehow negotiated a £20m cut of the fee. If that had been on Fergie’s watch, the hair dryer would have blown a gasket.
As it would throughout the past five seasons as United have been playing with ten and a half men.
The French World Cup winner is not a troublemaker in the traditional sense – the most outlandish thing he’s done was to insist on travelling back from Burnley, not on the team bus, but in his new chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce.
Even Jose Mourinho couldn’t get him out of second gear.
The rot set in once Woodward decided that Raiola was too big to ignore and he brought in Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. But ever since United have played with a handicap.
The Italian-born Dutch-based wheeler dealer cannot be blamed for everything, of course, but his enduring influence is a prime example of how Fergie’s modus operandi has been abandoned.
If they had brought in a modern structure, it might have mitigated the loss but there’s still no director of football and an ex-banker (Woodward) presides over transfers.
The Glazers, whose tenure has taken £1 billion out of the club in interest and dividends, look on like feudal lords, periodically raiding the till.
Woodward got lucky with choosing Solskjaer as a caretaker but a hard-nosed football man wouldn’t have given him the permanent job.
The Norwegian “gets” United, gives youth a chance and tries to attack. But his CV is of success at little Molde, abject failure at Cardiff and rank inconsistency at United.
He might be the greatest caretaker of all time but there’s nothing there to suggest he’s up to running a club of this stature.
A third of the 27 goals United have conceded in the EPL and Europe have come in the first 20 minutes. Either the defence is not ready, not set up properly or not good enough.
Bruno Fernandes has carried the team this year but promise up front is being undermined by a failure to defend and the Pogba imbroglio.
Neither that nor the inconsistencies can go on and, with the Manchester derby looming (at 1.30am on Sunday in Malaysia), United’s fragile season can ill afford a hiding by the neighbours.
It’s surely time to sell off Pogba and bring in Mauricio Pochettino – before Real Madrid or Barcelona get him – to steady the ship.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.