If a footballer was to write a guide on how not to endear yourself to a new club they could simply refer to Paul Pogba – 2022-23.
After returning to Juventus from Manchester United following the expiry of his contract in England, the hope for the World Cup winner was that he could return to the form that earned him an £89million move to the Premier League in the first place.
What has instead taken place is a disastrous return for club and player.
Injuries have consumed the Frenchman all season and he’s won headlines on the front and back pages, at home in France and in Italy, for various rows and legal battles.
The latest to emerge came a day after Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad – who recently signed two of his compatriots in Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante – although it was reported in France, via L’Equipe, that he will turn down those advances to fight for his future in Turin.
The question is, with Juventus reportedly in line to save £27m if he walks out of the door of the Allianz Stadium and does not come back this summer, is he someone they should fight to keep?
‘Although we parted ways, we never really forgot about each other, and there is something ancestral in the call that after a thousand adventures eventually leads you back home,’ Juventus wrote, when he put pen to paper on a return last summer.
It was gushing in praise. Juventus, it can be said, could not have been more positive and complimentary.
‘Paul is back in Turin. He left as a boy and returns as a man and a champion, but there is one thing that has not changed – the desire to write unforgettable pages of club history together once more.
‘Pogba is back and we couldn’t be happier.’
And yet, almost immediately issues began to crop up.
Pogba tore the meniscus in his knee during a pre-season tour of America and was eventually forced to agree to an operation to repair the injury after alternative therapies failed to help.
He then suffered another setback in October, suffering with a thigh muscle issue which further delayed his return, all the while Juventus fans are grumbling about whether they have swung and missed in the market on the injury-plagued Frenchman.
In the end, across an unfortunate season, he only played six times in Serie A for Juventus without ever completing a full 90 minutes.
Pogba’s last Serie A appearance came on May 14, 2023, in which he played just 24 minutes of a 2-0 win over Cremonese. He was consoled by team-mates as he looked to be emotional on the pitch as medical staff tended to him.
With speculation rife that his mindset was off, Pogba alluded to the ‘mental’ barriers that he has battled with.
‘The injuries that came this year are all due to mental problems. No season ever tested me as much as this one,’ he told Calcio Mercato.
‘My most important victory will be to overcome these extra-sports obstacles once and for all.’
After that injury he also took to Instagram with a lengthy explanation of his troubles to fans: ‘Hello to everyone, I think this is the right time to express myself after a long period of silence.
‘First of all, let me recap my season, which has been very, very complicated, with problems both on and off the field. As you know, it has been truly difficult for me and what happened was tough, above all mentally.
‘I tried to take solace in what I love: playing football, and working on the pitch, but that was not possible because I had a lot of bad luck physically. Now all I can do is be patient, but already today, I feel better mentally.’
He added: ‘First of all, thanks to God, we must try to be positive and have faith. Thanks also to you the fans, thanks to the stadium crowd, the club, who always supported and accompanied me.
‘It is thanks to you that I have been able to keep my morale up, you push me to return as soon as possible, to the best of my abilities.
‘I learned a great deal from this year, and I think everything that happened will help me come back stronger. Thank you to all of you for your support.
‘Mentally, and physically, I will do my best to get back in top form, so I can help my team and club, and win a trophy, because that is what I came here for. So, I just wanted to tell you that I won’t give up, I won’t be beaten. I will give my all. Thank you again to everyone.’
But while this grand sense of reflection came at the end of a torrid season, there are legions of the fan-base that had long been turned off by Pogba’s unreliability.
Pogba later hit back at his critics by dancing in the snow in a video on his Instagram page
Back in December of last year many were left confused and irritated when Pogba, sidelined through injury, shared pictures of himself enjoying the ski slopes over the festive period.
At that stage Pogba had yet to appear for Juventus since rejoining the club and there fans saw him, smiling in social media skiing selfies.
Tuttosport, a Juventus-dominated newspaper, spoke of ‘agitated’ fans questioning his senses in going out on the slopes – albeit he wasn’t skiing in the images posted – when he was rehabbing injury.
‘In the mountains there is always the risk of getting hurt and there are many fans who would like to see him on the field after months of waiting,’ Tuttosport wrote.
Criticisms made their way to the airwaves too, with former Juventus midfielder Marco Tardelli among those ticked off. Pogba, he said, was a ‘big problem’.
Tardelli told 90 Minute on Rai 2: ‘Today Pogba is a big problem that the Bianconeri must solve. This situation also demonstrates that Juve do not have clear enough ideas.
‘[Massimiliano] Allegri has to take over for me, it’s not possible to have a player like that on the payroll.
‘His behaviour towards his team-mates isn’t fair either, it annoys me.’
With tensions already high, what do you think Pogba does? Well, he mocks those criticising him.
Undettered by the backlash of the photos, Pogba elected to share a video of him dancing in the snow to his 56million-plus Instagram followers with the caption: ‘Me skiing for those who were wondering,’ with a skiing and cry-laughing emoji.
In the video he mimicked using skis before jumping forward. He then turns around and faces the camera, smiling, before carrying out several more mock-skiing poses.
As you can imagine, it did not go down well.
It’s one thing being attacked in the court of public opinion and another being confronted by investigators as part of a wider police investigation into extortion, with the player a victim.
Pogba described to investigators how he was threatened by two hooded men brandishing assault rifles after being lured into a flat in Chanteloup-en-Brie, in the eastern suburbs of Paris on March 19.
Mathias Pogba explosive new revelations claim Paul Pogba is into witchcraft
The midfielder was there on international duty, four days after a burglary in Manchester which saw his wife, Zulay, and the couple’s two young boys threatened.
Also reported to be present in the Paris property were four of Pogba’s childhood friends, identified as Boubacar C., Adama C. and two brothers called Roushdane and Machikour K.
Pogba claims he had his mobile phone taken away and was told to pay the £11m in return for ‘protection fees’ going back 13 years – the length of his professional career.
‘I was scared,’ said Pogba. ‘The two guys pointed their guns at me. Given I was being held like that at gunpoint, I told them I’d pay.
‘They shouted: “Shut up, look down”. One of them spoke in Roushdane’s ear. When the two hooded guys left, Roushdane told me I had to pay otherwise we were all in danger.
‘Roushdane said what had happened was usual when you are a famous footballer, but that I had to pay because he had vouched for me.’
As the story goes, Pogba began trying to raise the money, before being released at 4am, while being told that he would be watched.
In turn, the childhood friends said they were being threatened by a mafia-style gang who were controlling the entire extortion operation.
Roushdane K. said he had been shot in a hand by the unidentified gangsters, while Mamadou M. said they burned his car out.
After making an initial payment of €100,000 (£88,000), Pogba realised the blackmailers were stalking him around the training ground of his current club, Juventus, and so filed a complaint to the Italian authorities on July 16.
But there was another element to this jaw-dropping story.
Pogba had been accused of paying for, and using, a witchdoctor called ‘Ibrahim the Great’, who charges as much as €100 (£88) an hour for his services.
It was alleged he was using the witchdoctor to harm Kylian Mbappe, something he and his associates have consistently and vehemently denied.
As part of an investigation by the Mail on Sunday, it was reported last year that Pogba did indeed pay a sorcerer, instead to help him with his injury-plagued career.
Pogba told investigators working for France’s Central Office for the Fight against Organised Crime (OCLCO) that he was ‘looking to be protected against injury’ and ‘also to help poor kids in Africa’ he was in connection with through an aid organisation.
Two judicial sources in Paris confirmed the revelations – and the transcript from interviews completed last month.
As part of the story about the attack, it is claimed that Pogba was given a guarantee that the witchdoctor evidence, contained on a USB stick, would not be released should he pay the £11m.
And to compound the tale, his brother Mathias, himself a former footballer in England, was standing accused of being involved in the extortion plot.
Mathias was arrested and charged last September, before being released from prison in December, having been held in pre-trial detention.
Four other people were also placed under formal investigation for extortion and criminal association.
Mathias Pogba has always insisted he is innocent, with his lawyer saying he is ‘a complete stranger’ to any extortion attempt as the probe continues.
He was released under judicial review and has been prohibited from contacting Paul, leaving France and using social networks.
Happening all while Pogba was injured, those in Turin could only watch on in astonishment as stresses piled onto him.
‘I kept all of this to myself for a long time and then I revealed it. This case has had a big impact on my body, especially on my injuries,’ he said earlier this year.
And now we are here – should Juventus stick or twist.
It has been reported that Juventus would save a staggering £26.9m on their wage bill if they manage to offload Pogba to play in Saudi Arabia, according to an investigation of the player’s contract in Italy.
Upon joining as a free agent, the 30-year-old was handed a bumper £6.8million-per-season contract, but Juventus are yet to see a return on their investment.
As per Gazzetta dello Sport, Pogba’s 10 appearances during last season meant that the midfielder received a staggering £680,000 (€800,000) per game – and £42,488 (€ 49,689) per minute played.
When tax is factored into Pogba’s contract, the Italian outlet discovered, Juventus pay around £8.9m (€10.5m), and after signing the French midfielder on a four-year deal, could see the club spend a total of close to £35.9m (€52m) in wages on him.
This could even rise to as high as £42.9m (€50m), should Pogba achieve the necessary bonuses and add-ons detailed in his contract. Huge sums given such little activity on the pitch.
‘I don’t know if you will be able to see me in the Saudi league. Not today… we don’t know tomorrow,’ Pogba told a Saudi influencer on TikTok this week. ‘Al-Ittihad or Al-Ahly? We don’t know, we’ll see.’
And we will see. But if reports in France are to believed and he stays pat at Juventus, something has to change fast. The only silver lining is that, for Pogba and for Juventus, it really can’t get much worse.
