Paul Pogba

Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who is currently signed to club Juventus.

Pogba is currently serving a doping ban, and thus ineligible to play.

A versatile player, he operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, and defensive midfielder.

The move surprised his parent club, as it allegedly had a "non-solicitation agreement" with Pogba, which was agreed to by not only the player but also his parents in 2006.

Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Pogba joined the youth team of Ligue 2 side Le Havre in 2007, before a protracted transfer brought him to Manchester United two years later.

On 31 July 2009, Pogba announced that he was departing Le Havre to join the youth academy of Manchester United in England.

The agreement, which was in place until the end of the 2009–10 season, allowed Le Havre to sign Pogba to an aspirant (youth) contract once the player met specific age and scholarship requirements.

On 1 August, Le Havre released an official statement on its website criticising Manchester United and the Pogba family.

Le Havre also announced its intent to ask FIFA to probe the situation.

In response to Le Havre's accusations, Manchester United threatened to sue the club, while Pogba denied he was leaving Le Havre for monetary reasons, which Le Havre President Jean-Pierre Louvel had alleged to be £87,000 and a house.

Le Havre was also accused by Pogba's former club Torcy of using the same tactics it purported Manchester United to have used when the club acquired Pogba from its youth academy.

On the same day of Pogba's announcement to depart for England, Torcy released a press release on its official website criticising Le Havre's accusations, stating, "We will not use the term 'steal,' but the recruiters of Le Havre acted the same way with the club in Torcy."

The club cited Le Havre's acceptance of allowing Pogba to sign an amateur licence with the club without notifying Torcy as its primary reason why.

On 7 October, Manchester United were cleared of wrongdoing by a judge appointed by FIFA, with the declaration that Pogba was not contractually linked to Le Havre.

Pogba completed his transfer to Manchester United on 7 October 2009 and made his debut with the club's under-18 team on 10 October against Crewe Alexandra in a 2–1 defeat.

He finished the 2009–10 under-18 campaign with seven goals in 21 appearances.

The team finished first in their group, but lost to Arsenal 5–3 on penalties in the play-off semi-finals.

Despite having the option to appeal, on 18 June 2010, Le Havre officials confirmed that the club had reached an agreement with Manchester United for the transfer of Pogba.

The terms of the agreement were confidential.

In April 2010, Pogba was a part of the under-18 team that successfully defended their title at the Torneo Calcio Memorial Claudio Sassi-Sassuolo in Bologna, Italy.

After beginning his senior career with Manchester United, limited appearances persuaded him to depart to join Italian side Juventus on a free transfer in 2012, where he helped the club to four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles.

During his time in Italy, Pogba further established himself as one of the most promising young players in the world and received the Golden Boy award in 2013, followed by the Bravo Award in 2014.

Internationally, Pogba captained France to victory at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and took home the award for the Best Player for his performances during the tournament.

He made his debut for the senior team a year later and featured prominently at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was awarded the Best Young Player Award for his performances.

In 2016, Pogba was named to the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year and the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI after helping Juventus to the 2015 Champions League final, their first in twelve years.

Pogba's performances at Juventus led to him returning to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-world record transfer fee of €105 million (£89.3 million).

The fee was the highest paid by an English club until 2021.

In his first season back, he won the League Cup and the Europa League.

He later represented his nation at UEFA Euro 2016 on home soil, where he finished as a runner-up, before winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup, scoring in the final.

Pogba was born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, France, to Guinean parents.

He has two older brothers who are twins – Florentin Pogba and Mathias Pogba – born in Guinea, who are also footballers and play for the Guinean national team.

Florentin last played as a defender for ATK Mohun Bagan, while Mathias last played as a forward for ASM Belfort.

Growing up, Pogba was a fan of Arsenal.

Pogba began his football career at the age of six playing for US Roissy-en-Brie, a few miles south of his hometown.

He spent seven seasons at the club before joining US Torcy, where he served as captain of the club's under-13 team.

After one season with Torcy, Pogba joined professional club Le Havre.

In his second season at the club, Pogba captained its under-16 team to the final phase of its domestic league, the Championnat National des 16 ans.

Le Havre finished second to Lens in the final group phase, finishing ahead of the likes of Lyon and Nancy.

Pogba also established himself as a youth international for his country.

In the 2018–19 season, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.