Paul Pogba the world’s most expensive footballer

THE 23-year-old left Manchester United in 2012 after making just seven appearances, but returns as one of the world’s most famous players.

Paul Pogba is the world’s most expensive footballer.

FRANCE midfielder Paul Pogba arrived at Manchester United’s training base today to complete his record-breaking return to the club from Juventus.

Pogba was driven into United’s Aon Training Complex in the passenger seat of a red and black Chevrolet car provided by the club, having flown to Manchester from Nice.

He was due to undergo a medical and is expected to be officially confirmed as a United player on Wednesday or Thursday (AEST).

British media reports say United have agreed to pay Juventus a world-record fee of 89 million pounds (A$152 million, 105 million euros) to sign Pogba, not including agents’ fees.

Manchester Airport had earlier tweeted a picture of a plane sitting on the runway, accompanied by the caption: “An important passenger has just touched down at the airport. Can anyone guess who it might be?”

An important passenger has just touched down at the airport. Can anyone guess who it might be? pic.twitter.com/1HDsXzE7NN

— Manchester Airport (@manairport) August 8, 2016

Pogba, 23, left United in 2012 after making just seven appearances, but returns as one of the world’s most famous players after winning four consecutive Serie A titles in Italy.

He will eclipse Gareth Bale as the world’s most expensive player. The Welsh forward cost Real Madrid around 85 million pounds when he joined from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.

Paul Pogba is now a Red Devil.

United manager Jose Mourinho hailed Pogba’s arrival following his team’s 2-1 win over Leicester City in Sunday’s Community Shield at Wembley.

“I don’t think Real Madrid were upset when they broke the record with Gareth Bale, with Cristiano (Ronaldo),” Mourinho said.

“When other people break records, I don’t think it’s a reason to be sad. I think it’s a reason to be proud with the dimension of a club that can do that and can attract players of this dimension.”

Pogba will become United’s fourth close-season signing after Ivorian centre-back Eric Bailly, Armenian playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Here are some other high-profile players who left clubs and later re-signed for them, often for a much bigger transfer fee:

CESC FABREGAS

Fabregas joined Arsenal from Barcelona in 2003 on a free transfer at age 16. He became a star under Arsene Wenger, as a replacement for Patrick Vieira in central midfield, and it wasn’t long before his former club showed an interest in bringing him back to Spain. Eight years after leaving Camp Nou, Barcelona and Arsenal agreed a deal worth 35 million pounds for the midfielder. Fabregas has since returned to London, signing for Chelsea in 2014.

NEMANJA MATIC

Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic initially signed for Chelsea in 2009 for 1.5 million pounds. He spent two years at Stamford Bridge before being deemed surplus to requirements, leaving for Portugal as a makeweight in a deal that brought David Luiz to Chelsea from Benfica for 25 million pounds. Matic spent three successful years at Benfica before Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho decided to re-sign him in 2014 for 21 million pounds.

NICOLAS ANELKA

Having started his career at Paris Saint-Germain, Anelka signed for Arsenal at age 17 for 500,000 pounds in 1997 and helped the team win the Premier League. The France striker moved to Real Madrid two years later for around 22 million pounds, before PSG spent a similar amount to bring him back to France.

DANI CARVAJAL

Carvajal signed terms with Real Madrid at the age of 10 and spent his entire youth career there, eventually playing for its reserve side, Real Madrid Castilla. After failing to make an appearance for the first team, Carvajal was sold to German side Bayer Leverkusen in 2012 for 5 million euros. Real Madrid had ensured a buy-back clause was inserted into the deal and, just a year after leaving, Carvajal re-signed for Madrid in 2013 for a deal worth 6.5 million euros.

GERARD PIQUE

Pique left current club Barcelona for Manchester United 2004 at the age of 17 on a free transfer as he was deemed too young to be considered a professional. After four years and limited first-team action at United, including a short loan at Spanish side Real Zaragoza, Barcelona decided to spend five million pounds to bring Pique back to the club in 2008. He has proved a big success at Camp Nou, winning 14 major trophies as well as the World Cup and European Championship with Spain.

ALVARO MORATA

Morata left Real Madrid in 2014 after four seasons there and joined Juventus. The terms of the move included a buy-back option and Madrid exercised that option this off-season, with the fee reported to be up to 30 million euros. Morata had impressed for Spain at Euro 2016.

Originally published as Paul Pogba the world’s most expensive footballer