Pogba salutes axed boss for trophies and ‘helping me to improve’
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IT IS never easy understanding the paradox that is Paul Pogba. Take last Tuesday afternoon for instance. ‘He’s been a disgrace,’ muttered one Manchester United staff member in the wake of Jose Mourinho’s sacking. ‘The way he reacted to the boss going is just disrespectful, he’ll be getting fined for this.’
Pogba had posted a smirking photograph of himself on Instagram with ‘ Caption This’ underneath. Quickly deleted, it triggered an angry response and swift inquest. His PR and sponsors denied all knowledge.
Hours later, Pogba was struggling with emotions of a different sense at the bedside of Matty, a young cancer patient at t he Palatine Treatment Centre in The Christie, south Manchester.
Mat ty’ sm um lifted up a Manchester United shirt, adorned with the No6, emblazoned with the name ‘ Pogba’. ‘ This is his lucky shirt,’ said mum. ‘The only time he gets bad results is when he can’t find this shirt.’
Pogba’s presence lifted the family and the occasion clearly resonated with the £ 89million midfielder. He tweeted: ‘ You thank us for giving you five minutes of our time but we thank you for giving us the strength to push ourselves to the limit.’
Pogba is not a bad person but he can be a complex one to understand. His nickname ‘La Pioche’, which is embroidered into some of his designer clothes, translates as ‘pick axe’, yet in France it is used as a term of endearment for someone who goes out of their way to help others.
‘He always has a smile on his face, I’ll give him that,’ said one United player. ‘He’s really like a big, bouncy kid.’
Indeed, there was some surprise when Pogba turned up on a night out at plush Alderley Edge Chinese restaurant Yu recently with Bolivian girlfriend Maria Salaues heavily pregnant. Few teammates can envisage 25-year-old Pogba being a father just yet when looking after himself seems such a struggle.
Only last year, player support staff had to get him out of bed for training. Mourinho would roll his eyes in despair on the team coach when Pogba’s loud music came blaring from the upper deck on the way to a game.
‘ It’s Pogba,’ said Mourinho’s assistant, as if he had to confirm.
On a Friday night before a game, Pogba would often ask celebrity hairdresser Ahmed Alsanawi to cut his hair at the team’s hotel. Team-mates began to follow suit, with Al san awi staying past midnight on one occasion.
‘ The No6 is killing us,’ said Mourinho’s staff. He knew. He warned his players they were part of a virus sweeping the club.
Mourinho had been charmed by Pogba on his return to Old Trafford. He was a winner. However, the irascible Frenchman’s appetite for dancing, ‘ silly handshakes’ plus a footballer’s life and its trappings, slowly began to leave the Special One cold.
It wasn’t just the diamond encrusted personalised earrings, the odd £160,000 Richard Mille watch, the flash cars, from the Rolls-Royce to the Maserati, and personalised pool table. Mourinho had always given his players power of responsibility but became concerned at Pogba’s increasing influence over the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira.
‘Why aren’t these players putting football first?’ he would ask.
In Pogba’s mind the job is never in question. ‘ I’m a happy guy, who laughs, who changes haircuts,’ Pogba told French GQ.
‘I joke, I dance, I do not dress like the others. I show myself, yes, but I’m not arrogant. I am nature.
‘In Europe, this behaviour is surprising, we must stay reserved, do not say everything we think. I have what is called “the American mentality”. Let’s say I’m different. And some people do not take it in a good way. I know how to be serious. Football is my passion, I play, I can smile, I laugh. But the job is the job.’
He is generous, giving both time and money to charity, paying for children in Africa to have lifesaving surgery. He has been a driving force in UEFA’s Equal Game initiative and donates to the Red Cross. A treasured medallion around his neck reminds him of his father Fassou who died last year, while his beloved mother Yeo is his confidant.
Not one for alcohol, Pogba and his family enjoy the occasional visit to other well-known Chinese eateries, Wings and Tattu in Manchester city centre.
He has a £3million home in the exclusive Hale Barns area of Cheshire, complete with swimming pool and private cinema. He added his own indoor football pitch, ‘the Pogba Arena’, resplendent with neon lights, a mural of himself and a monogrammed ‘PP’ centre circle.
His passion for music sees him rub shoulders in Dubai with Afropop star Davido, appear in videos for American singer Desiigner and regard French rapper MHD as a friend. Pogba even starred in his own reality French TV series on Canal Plus, called Pogba Mondial:
Yet he went on to win the World Cup and he still sells more shirts than anyone at United. Barcelona began to court him and turned his head. His desire to leave was obvious and so was the fractured relationship with Mourinho.
He would leave Mourinho bristling to the bitter end. Breaching club protocol, Pogba asked a member of the club’s medical staff to film while he danced and rapped a birthday message to Lingard in the training ground dressing room. It was the day before they played Liverpool. It infuriated the manager, who demanded action was taken.
Now it’s in the hands of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Pogba’s former reserve team coach: ‘ Paul is a terrific lad and I want to get the best out of.’ It’s just complicated.