– Paul Pogba has re-joined Manchester United for
N45 billion world record fee
– His energy and explosive style is compared with
Patrick Viera
– “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.


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.
Pogba heads back to Carrington
“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
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 realising the club’s gravest mistake in
its history, for letting him leave to Juventus in
2012, most importantly for a pittance.

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.