The statement ran to 840 words, which was not the number of midfielders Manchester United scouted before re-signing Paul Pogba in 2016.
As dignified as United's eulogy was, a more memorable epitaph is Pogba's last appearance at Old Trafford. He was booed and repeatedly urged to "F--k off". At full-time, the chants restarted, Pogba cupped his ear to the Stretford Enders and disappeared down the tunnel.
That was the only standalone chant Pogba earned in his six years back at United. He will have embellished the social media impressions and appeared popular on the sentiment graphs but Pogba never truly bonded with the matchgoers, always the most reliable gauge of a player's bond.
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"Strength in unity," the club Twitter account posted, quote-tweeting Pogba decrying a news story two days after the 5-0 annihilation by Liverpool.
Pogba showed little strength or unity at a club he repeatedly attempted to leave. He was offered to Manchester City in 2018, fluttered his eyelashes at Real Madrid in 2019, coincidentally bumped into Zinedine Zidane in Dubai later that year and Mino Raiola promised his United career was "over" in December 2020.
Solskjaer's man-management of Pogba was often tactful but also blinkered. When Pogba was filmed remarking it was "maybe time for a new challenge", Solskjaer risibly suggested there was a media agenda against him.
Raiola spoke on Pogba's behalf. Not once did Pogba retract his late agent's comments and when a German newspaper claimed Pogba would seek representation elsewhere if Raiola did not engineer a move in 2021 Raiola ridiculed them in an Instagram post.
"When u don't know don't talk @bild," Pogba commented.
Pogba's second spell was sprinkled with stardust: the late decider against Middlesbrough, a Europa League final winner the coruscating comeback at City in 2018, the odd blockbuster, his resurgence during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's caretaker tenure, the winner in the San Siro and dominance of Leeds.
Yet he is symbolic of United's deterioration into a commercial club that prioritised cash over cups. Only last week the club's YouTube channel published a video of Pogba with an influencer plugging a sponsor. He last played on April 19.
It is particularly galling when Pogba was so diligent at the 2018 World Cup and exceptional during last year's European Championship. But Pogba always wanted to play for France. He did not always want to play for United.
There is a contrary narrative United failed Pogba. In the same summer he re-signed, United recruited his Raiola stablemate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a link-up that helped them to triumph in the League Cup and Europa League. When Ibrahimovic ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, United turned to another Raiola prodigy in Romelu Lukaku.
Nemanja Matic arrived to hold the fort as Pogba stormed forward. Another deep-lying midfielder, Fred, joined the following summer. United played Pogba in a three, a two, off the left.
Ultimately, he was not committed to playing for United as soon as Jose Mourinho put his nose out of joint in their second season. Pogba revelled in Mourinho's sacking on Twitter with the infamous "Caption this" tweet and suddenly regained form in Solskjaer's first match in charge, assisting two goals in a 5-1 thrashing of Cardiff.
Pogba once entered the dressing room at Carrington clad in clothing that turned heads. As he approached his locker, a voice in the background piped up.
"Hey, what do you think this is? The circus? This is not the circus, this is Manchester United." Ibrahimovic kept Pogba in check during their 19 months as teammates. "I'll make you famous," he bragged in one of Pogba's first Instagram Stories. Pogba cracked up.
Pogba received some unflattering monikers from his coterie of naysayers. Mourinho dubbed him "His excellency" at a seminar in Portugal and the post-World Cup Pogba was referred to as "The King" by some at Carrington.
"His ego changed dramatically," a United source said of Pogba's return after the World Cup. Another noted Mourinho and his staff were "f----d" as United would deify their new world champion.
Mourinho felt Pogba was selfish and expressed his misgivings to a senior player who did not disagree. Pogba was popular with teammates and those closest to him - his Hale neighbours - felt it was in the player and club's best interests for Pogba to go. That was in 2019.
In 2017, 2019 and 2021, Pogba was absent for significant periods through injury and headed abroad, the middle getaway especially farcical. Pogba was nearing a return from an ankle injury when the supine Solskjaer claimed he had been "struck down ill". Footage then emerged of Pogba dancing rhythmically at his brother Florentin's wedding in Bussy-Saint-Georges, Paris.
United coined the hashtag 'Pogback' with his signing and Pogba became the first footballer to have an emoji in 2017, announced on the eve of Liverpool's visit. The emoji was carved and painted into his hair and appeared on the electronic advertising hoardings during the game. Pogba conceded a penalty.
Ander Herrera had a post-match sponsorship engagement the previous month against Middlesbrough but stressed he would only fulfil it if United won. Herrera was a player of the year recipient under Mourinho.
After Pogba ambled off at Anfield last month, a source who encountered him at United messaged: "Pogs--t."
