Paul Pogba’s journey to becoming the most
expensive footballer in the world
– “Pogboom” left French
club, Le Havre acrimoniously in 2009 to Manchester United
– The Frenchman left
United to Juventus due to lack of playing time
–
Pogba left United a boy and returned a man, leaving a colossal hole in the
club’s pocket in the process It has been a long and arduous journey for a black
player to be the world’s most expensive footballer ever with Paul Pogba’s
transfer back to Manchester United from Juventus for N45billion (£105million).
Gone are the days of total disregard for black player’s abilities and modicum
financial reward for their undoubted skills, performances and inputs. The leggy
Frenchman nicknamed ‘Paul the Octopus` in Italy for his long legs that look
like tentacles in tackling and running, and also generally compared with the
former France international, Patrick Viera for his energy and explosive style
on the pitch has indeed made history.
At last! Pogba go play for Man U Paul
Pogba as a Manchester United trainee Early childhood and career Paul Labile
Pogba was born on 15 March, 1993 in Lagny- sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne to modest
Guinean parents. He has two older brothers who are twins (Florentin and
Mathias) and are also footballers, plying their trade with Sainte Etiene in
France and Partick Thistle in Scotland respectively. He began his football
career at the age of six with US-Roissy-en-Brie, a few miles south of his
hometown where he spent seven seasons before joining US Toray and served as the
under-13 team captain. He later joined Le Havre as his first professional club.
He helped the club to finish second in the second-tier of the French league. He
departed Le Havre acrimoniously on 31 July, 2009 to join the youth academy of
Manchester United. A move that led Le Havre to release an official statement on
its website criticising Manchester United and the Pogba family poaching and
reneging on agreement before later announcing their intention to ask FIFA to
probe the transfer. United countered by threatening to sue the club, while
Pogba was forced to deny leaving for £87.000 and a house, as alleged by the
then Le Havre President Jean-pierre Houvel.
It turned out to be a case of `what comes
around goes around` as Pogba’s former club Torcy accused Le Harve of employing
similar tactics to acquire his services by releasing a statement “We will not
use the term ‘steal’, but the recruiters of Le Havre acted the same way with
the club in Torcy.” Manchester United was eventually cleared of wrongdoing by a
judge appointed by FIFA, stating that Pogba was not contractually linked with
Le Havre. A confidential agreement was later reached by both clubs on 18 June,
2010 to resolve the matter. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pogba Pogba
heads back to Carrington
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“Pogboom”
– another of his nicknames, has always believed in his own abilities. His
over-eagerness to compete and prove himself at the highest level led to his
initial exit from Manchester United to Juventus. His potentials and abilities
never went unnoticed by the then manager, Sir Alex Ferguson who was able to
foresee his departure by saying – “I mean if we hold Pogba back, what’s going
to happen? He’s going to leave. You know, in a couple of year’s time when his
contract is going to finish. So we have to give him the opportunity to see how
he can in the first team and he’s got great ability.” Leave he did – to
Juventus, after a lack of consistent opportunity in the first team, making only
two substitute Premier League appearances and a UEFA Europa league appearance.
It was another controversial transfer,
refusing to sign a new contract, leading Sir Alex to state that Juventus had
signed up Pogba “a long time ago as far as we’re aware.” Sir Alex Ferguson went
further to accuse Pogba of disrespecting the club “It is disappointing. I don’t
think he showed us any respect to be honest. I’m quite happy that if
footballers carry on like that, they’re probably better doing it away from us.”
Paul Pogba returns to Manchester United Paul Pogba returns to Manchester United
Pogba was equally unrepentant, quoting at the time “I said to Ferguson: ‘Play
me, and i will show you if I’m ready or not’, Then against Blackburn on
December 31, 2011, I was on the bench. Ferguson put Rafael in midfield with Ji
Sung Park. Then I gave up.” Meteoric rise back to Manchester United Pogba made his
competitive debut for Juventus against Chievo,and scored his first goal for the
club in a 2-0 win over Napoli. His glowing performances led to appraisals from
several Italian media outlets such as La Gazzetta dello Sport and other
European media outlets like The Guardian who named him as one of the ten most
promising player in Europe.
The rest as they say, is history as he
has won the 2013 Golden Boy Award, given to the best young football player in
Europe, with nominees under the age of 21, as well as the under-20 World Cup
with France. The great Zinedine Zidane was among many football legends who have
lavished praises on the young Frenchman about his potential to become one of
the best players ever, Patrick Viera was another. Pogba has proved equal to the
praises and the high expectations of him, stating one of the reasons why he
joined the Italian club “Juventus can help me realise my dream of becoming the
best player in the world.” His deployment as a number 10 by Massimo Allegri has
been a revelation, improving leaps and bound with every match he played in that
position, which has not gone unnoticed by the European football superpowers.
Pogba has won four back-to-back Serie A titles (2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15,
2015-16), two Coppa Italia (2014-15, 2015-16), two Supercopa Italia (2013,
2015) and other individual honours, including FIFA World Cup Best Young Player
2014, Serie A Top Assist provider 2015-2016 amongst other honours.
With all these achievements, it was
only a matter of time before Manchester United come calling back. Eating a huge
dollop of humble pie in the process of realizing the club’s gravest mistake in
its history, for letting him leave to Juventus in 2012, most importantly for a
pittance. Paul Pogba honours
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However,
credit must be given to the old Trafford outfit for swallowing their pride and
jumping in at the deep end to make the reunion happen. Reunion prognosis Pogba’s
return to the Theatre of Dreams can be concluded to be a combination of
unfinished business, the lure of being coached by Mourinho, ambition, ego,
financial incentive and above all, the promise that he will be the focal point
with the team constructed around him.
It surely wasn’t for Champions
League football this season, but rather Europa League. He’s renowned for his
versatility in the middle of the park, a box to box midfielder but most
effective in the number 10 role. It is yet to be seen where Mr Mourinho will
deploy him. With his experience, he must have a plan thought out. Pogba is an
attack minded midfielder and will be expected to be a game charger, especially
with that huge price tag on his head. Scrutiny will come with the territory. He
is capable of playing in any position on the field but will need a regular role
where he can consistently turn in excellent performances to justify the
humongous price tag. If pre-season is anything to go by, Mourinho favoured
4-2-3-1 system, and in that system Pogba would probably be one of the two
holding midfielders rather than a No 10 where the club is already spoilt for
choice. One thing is certain, Mourinho would not have signed Pogba without a
definite team plan, what remains to be seen is how that plan is implemented.
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