Wild career of Paul Pogba after four-year ban threatens to end it… a golden breakthrough, Jose Mourinho calling him a ‘virus’, World Cup glory and extraordinary tales of blackmail, witchdoctors and brotherly betrayal…

Paul Pogba’s chaotic career could be over, following the news that he has been hit with a four year ban for failing a drugs test last August. 

Having made his professional debut in 2011, few players have been under the spotlight as much as the Frenchman. 

His performances and antics on and off the pitch split opinion. He was capable of outrageous displays but also baffling lapses that infuriated fans and pundits alike. 

The last couple of years in particular, have been extraordinary, with Pogba alleging blackmail plot involving his brother, witchcraft accusations and now the downfall that could kill his career for good. Here’s a look back at the highs and lows of his rollercoaster ride on and off the pitch. 

December 2013 – Wins Golden Boy award

The swashbuckling young Frenchman claimed the prize given by sports journalists for the best young player in the world. 

Playing a key role for Juventus in winning the Scudetto, winning the U20 World Cup with France and then receiving a call-up to the senior side, Pogba was well and truly on the road to success.

At the time he said: ‘I’m flattered and proud to receive this prestigious trophy, 2013 really was a golden year for me, I just hope that 2014 is the same!

‘One day I would like to win everything there is to win. Dreaming is not illegal. However, I’m a down-to-earth guy, and right now I want to win a third title in a row for Juventus.’

July 2014 – Wins Young Player award at World Cup

Pogba saw off competition from Memphis Depay and team-mate Raphael Varane to win the Best Young Player prize at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. 

His former Under-20s coach Pierre Mankowski described his abilities at the tournament, saying: ‘Paul is extraordinary. The day he thinks he’s ‘arrived’ there’ll be reason to be worried but, at the moment, he is just full of ambition and drive as to where he wants to go.’

There was also high praise from Patrick Vieira, who said: ‘People compare us but, where I would win more tackles, Paul is more technically gifted than I ever was, and far more at ease on the ball.

‘I’d busy myself with defensive duties, but he is only looking to charge forward. He can be one of the best in the world.’ 

Having left Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man United to join Juventus back in 2012 in pursuit of regular first team football, his old club came knocking and signed him in what, at the time was a world record fee of £89.5million, rising to £100m with add-ons. 

He signed a five-year contract worth £290,000-a-week, with the option for an extra year. 

It was a staggering, monumental deal for the 23-year-old and United used the hashtag ‘Pogback’ in a carefully curated announcement video that took the internet by storm. 

At the time, Mourinho said: ‘Paul is one of the best players in the world and will be a key part of the United team I want to build here for the future. 

‘He is quick, strong, scores goals and reads the game better than many players much older than he is.

‘At 23, he has the chance to make that position his own here over many years. 

‘He is young and will continue to improve; he has the chance to be at the heart of this club for the next decade and beyond.’ 

May 2017 – Europa League final win

The Europa League final victory over Ajax came less than 48 hours after the horrendous terror attack at the Manchester Arena, which left 22 dead.

Pogba dedicated his goal and the win to the victims, endearing himself to fans, saying: ‘We know things like this are very sad, all over the world. In London and Paris.

‘We had to focus, it was very important. We won for Manchester, we worked for them, for the country. We play for England, for Manchester and for the people who died.’

Pogba’s goal took a wicked deflection to beat now-United goalkeeper Andre Onana. 

It looked as though the Frenchman was warming up to his role as the main man at United despite the weight of the price tag hanging around his neck.  

July 2018 – World Cup glory

Pogba was one of the stars of Didier Deschamps’ side at the 2018 World Cup. 

He completed 245 of his 296 passes, including a brilliant assist to Kylian Mbappe in the final and even scored with a superb strike himself in the 4-2 win over Croatia. 

An exuberant Pogba said after the final whistle: ‘It’s just an unbelievable, magnificent, wonderful dream come true. People criticised and talked bad about us at the start of the World Cup but we won, and now I want to hear them because they’re going to celebrate with us. 

‘And it’s fine – we invite them to celebrate with us. We like when people do not believe with us and we showed them they have to believe in us.

‘The only answer we can have is always on the pitch, the criticism is always going to be there, it’s the job of the journalist, they have to do it, but I don’t think it’s bad, I think it’s a challenge, for me to improve and get better and better, to win trophies and we did today so I’m very happy, the most important thing is that I won the World Cup and be in history forever.’

But Pogba’s performances for Les Bleus were not being replicated back at Old Trafford. 

April 2018 – Pep’s spanner in the works

Guardiola dropped a bombshell, saying Man City were ‘offered’ Pogba by Mino Raiola in the January transfer window. 

Raiola lateer told BBC Sport he did not speak to Guardiola directly but did not deny telling City of the availability. 

Responding to Raiola calling him a ‘coward’ and a ‘dog’, Guardiola said at a press conference: ‘Two months ago he offered me Mkhitaryan and Pogba to play with us.

‘Comparing [me to] a dog is bad – it’s not good. He has to respect the dogs.’

Guardiola made the revelation public on the eve of the Manchester derby, which his side lost after throwing away a two-goal lead, with Pogba scoring twice in an inspired turnaround. 

December 2018 – Mourinho calls him a ‘virus’ 

After a 2-2 away draw against Southampton, Mourinho turned on Pogba, with the pair having been at loggerheads throughout the season.

According to the Sun, Mourinho accused Pogba of displaying a lack of respect for his team-mate’s after his performance.

The report claims Mourinho labelled the 25-year-old a ‘virus’ in front of the entire United team.

He is believed to have told him: ‘You are like a person with a flu with a virus in a closed room – you pass that virus to the others.

‘You don’t play. You don’t respect players and supporters. And you kill the mentality of the good honest people around you.’

Pogba was restored to United’s starting XI amid an injury crisis having been dropped for a Champions League win over Young Boys.

‘We lost so many balls in midfield, that was difficult to have that continuity,’ Mourinho said in a post-match interview. ‘In the second half we went back to that dynamic where we lost too many balls in midfield, when the players don’t understand that simplicity is genius.’

December 2018 – Fined for Instagram dig 

Mourinho was sacked by United in December 2018 having lost away at Liverpool following a poor first five months of the campaign. 

Minutes after the news broke, a photo of a smirking Pogba was posted on his Instagram with the message ‘caption this’.

The post was deleted 10 minutes later but not before it was liked by more than 64,000 people and drew a response from Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville who wrote: ‘You can do one as well!’

It was widely reported at the time that United were unhappy at the distasteful post and would fine the player.  

October 2021 – Sent off on dark day against Liverpool

Pogba came off the bench in the second half of a game against fierce rivals Liverpool that the visitors were dominating 4-0. 

He lasted just 15 minutes and was sent off for a reckless challenge on Naby Keita, flying in with his studs up. 

Keita had to leave the pitch on a stretcher and the game ended up being 5-1 to Jurgen Klopp’s men in enemy territory.  

It was a moment to heap misery on United and reflected poorly on their record signing, also cranking up pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who had initially inspired an upturn in form in Pogba when he first took over as interim boss. 

April 2022 – Raiola dies and Pogba is booed by fans

Raiola died aged 54 following admission to hospital for lung disease. 

He had been Pogba’s agent for his entire career and the pair were close both professionally and personally. 

Pogba posted a tribute to Raiola with the words ‘Always in my heart. Thank you Mimi’ alongside a video of photos of the pair alongside each other.

In his place, Rafaela Pimenta took over and represents the Frenchman. Pogba’s United career was plumbing new depths at this point as he was booed by his own fans against Norwich. 

He was subjected to chants of ‘f**k off Pogba’ and the midfielder sarcastically cupped his ear towards fans as he walked towards the tunnel at full-time. 

June 2022 – United confirm he will leave on free

United announce that Pogba will leave the club for a second time upon the expiration of his contract, again returning to Juvenus. 

Pogba took a passing swipe at United on the way out, saying: ‘I’m thinking, putting everything together, taking my time, and I’m just looking for the best, I want to play football, be myself always, and enjoy what I do.

‘I need to enjoy what I do because otherwise I cannot perform well. I don’t want to be thinking negatively. We can be losing games, trophies but you have to be happy and enjoy yourself — that’s what I’m looking for.

‘Everybody wants to feel loved, everyone needs that in your soul to feel appreciated. Everything you do even when you grow up, when you do a good thing you like to hear: ‘Well done, nice.’

‘It’s always been like that, even adults need that. It’s always good to feel the work you do is appreciated that you’re doing well that people are happy with yourself.

‘I think people around make a huge difference because they cheer you up or they can bring you down — it can be both — so you need them to bring you up.’

July 2022 – Injury woe 

Pogba’s return to Turin was dealt an early blow as he suffered an injury to the meniscus in his knee, ruling him out for two months.  

August 2022 – Extortion allegations, witchdoctors and brotherly betrayal 

In an extraordinary development, Pogba said he is the victim of extortion attempts and threats from an organised gang and that authorities in Italy and France are investigating.

His statement came after his brother Mathias had posted a video vowing to make ‘great revelations’ about his younger brother and agent Pimenta, including a claim of how Paul used a witch doctor to cast a spell on France team-mate Kylian Mbappe.

Mathias was taken into custody the following month after Paul had said he’d been threatened by a gang since March to pay £11m in ‘protection services’. 

Paul reportedly paid £100,000 to the group to ‘save time’, after he was threatened by masked, armed men in a Paris apartment while on international duty – only to see another multi-million demand issued.

Sportsmail revealed that Pogba did indeed pay a sorcerer to help him with his injury-plagued career. However, he vehemently denied that this had anything to do with Mbappé and said he ‘never intended to harm anyone’.

Pogba instead 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.

Mathias, a former Wrexham and Crawley striker, shared further videos from his TikTok account while he was detained.

The 32-year-old labelled his brother as a ‘great hypocrite, manipulator and cunning’ in the videos, which were posted via a bot.

Mathias was released from custody in December of the same year. 

December 2023 – Fan angered by skiing trip

Many fans 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’. 

May 2023 – Injury 23 minutes into second Juventus debut

Pogba left the pitch in tears after suffering yet another injury just 23 minutes into second full Juventus debut. 

He suffered a muscle problem and went down with his head in his hands.

‘We’re all sorry, he was also doing fairly well and without him we struggled to find positions,’ said manager Massimiliano Allegri. ‘Now he’ll definitely have to pause again, he felt pain.

‘We’re all really heartbroken, but Paul has broad shoulders, and we’ll wait for him.’

September 2023 – Provisionally suspended

Shocking news of Pogba testing positive for a banned substance came to light last September. 

He was provisionally suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping body, Nado Italia, at a tribunal having returned a positive test for testosterone following a 3-0 win for Juventus at Udinese in August. 

Pogba’s ‘B sample’ was sent for more testing at the Acqua Acetosa clinic in Rome and corroborated the first result.

February 2024 – Four year ban

Anti-doping prosecutors have dealt the 30-year-old a huge four-year ban from football.

Pogba’s lawyers had rejected a plea deal and hoped to get their client a lighter sentence after claiming that he had accidentally ingested the substance that caused the positive test.

However, the prosecution did not believe Pogba’s defence, and he has now been given a ban that could potentially end his career.

Pogba was adamant from the start that he had no idea how the substance had got into his system and that he has not looking to gain a sporting advantage and confirmed on Thursday he will appeal the judgement at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

If the appeal is unsuccessful, it could effectively end Pogba’s tumultuous career.