{"id":288526,"date":"2023-09-13T00:35:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T00:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=288526"},"modified":"2023-09-13T00:35:39","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T00:35:39","slug":"how-paul-pogba-went-from-hero-to-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/how-paul-pogba-went-from-hero-to-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"How Paul Pogba went from hero to zero"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>How Paul Pogba went from hero to zero: From a blockbuster \u00a389m Man United move and World Cup glory to injuries, extortion and a failed drugs test which could end his career<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Juventus star Paul Pogba facing a four-year ban after failing a drugs test<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>France midfielder nearly quit the game during extortion plot against him<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even by Paul Pogba standards, it was a pretty manic Monday. Over breakfast, we read that the Frenchman considered quitting football after falling victim to an extortion plot allegedly involving his brother. By dinner, he was facing a four-year ban for failing a drugs test.<\/p>\n<p>If the 30-year-old is hit with the maximum punishment, his career could be over after all.<\/p>\n<p>It is one that reached the highs of a World Cup triumph with France in 2018, following a world-record \u00a389million transfer to Manchester United two years earlier, yet still feels unfulfilled after wretched second spells at Old Trafford and Juventus.<\/p>\n<p>It was notable that Pogba tested positive for testosterone after a game in which he did not play, Juve\u2019s 3-0 win away to Udinese last month. Pogba does not play much these days.<\/p>\n<p>His first season back in Turin \u2014 where he won four Serie A titles and reached the Champions League final first time around \u2014 brought just 10 appearances and one start due to a knee injury that kept him out of France\u2019s World Cup campaign in Qatar.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/00\/75326095-0-Pogba_has_featured_twice_for_Juventus_since_giving_the_sample_th-a-81_1694560609567.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Paul Pogba failed a drugs test following Juventus&#8217; first game of the season last month<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/00\/75357791-0-image-a-80_1694560591716.jpg\" height=\"433\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pogba&#8217;s career reached the highs of a World Cup triumph with France in 2018\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/00\/75357769-0-image-a-79_1694560494811.jpg\" height=\"418\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old endured wretched second spells at Manchester United and Juventus<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>When he finally did make the line-up in Juve\u2019s penultimate home game against Cremonese in May, he lasted only 23 minutes before going down with a thigh injury and making a tearful exit.<\/p>\n<p>He has managed two appearances off the bench this season, but it was as an unused substitute on August 20 that he was selected for a random test that came back positive.<\/p>\n<p>Pogba is now waiting on the B sample as he faces a two-year ban that could be doubled if it is proven he took the drug deliberately. It is the latest in a series of dramatic events that have seen Pogba\u2019s career decline alarmingly since he conquered the world with France five years ago.<\/p>\n<p>His relationship with Jose Mourinho \u2014 and, increasingly, the United fanbase \u2014 was already beginning to sour, even if it was the manager who left first after stripping Pogba of the vice- captaincy and dropping him to the bench at Liverpool for his last game in charge. Pogba has since claimed his fall-out with Mourinho left him suffering from depression.<\/p>\n<p>Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took a more sympathetic approach, indulging the midfielder\u2019s days off, foreign jaunts and all-too- regular rehab sessions in Miami and Dubai.<\/p>\n<p>But Pogba could not repay his manager\u2019s trust on the pitch and infuriated fans by continually flirting with Real Madrid as he ran down his contract.<\/p>\n<p>By the time he left United on a free transfer for the second time last summer, following a hugely disappointing return which cost United \u00a3219m over six years, Juve were his best option.<\/p>\n<p>Pogba\u2019s personal life was in turmoil by then. His agent and close friend Mino Raiola passed away in April 2022 following a battle with cancer. Raiola\u2019s lawyer, Rafaela Pimenta, has taken over and it is just as well because the player has needed all the legal help he can get.<\/p>\n<p>It was Pimenta who issued a few words on Pogba\u2019s behalf late on Monday, saying: \u2018The certain thing is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break the rules.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>A year ago came the revelations that Pogba had been targeted by an organised crime gang.<\/p>\n<p>Four days after his home in Hale, Cheshire, was raided by burglars who threatened his wife Zulay and their two young boys, the player was confronted by two hooded thugs brandishing assault rifles after he was lured to a flat in the suburbs of Paris.<\/p>\n<p>They demanded \u00a311m in protection money and threatened to blackmail him over a video, allegedly supporting a bizarre claim that Pogba paid a witch doctor to cast a spell on his France team-mate Kylian Mbappe as he was stealing his limelight.<\/p>\n<p>Pogba admitted paying the witch doctor but insisted it was to try to cure injuries. His brother Mathias went public, threatening to reveal \u2018explosive\u2019 information about the player and Mbappe, before he was arrested and charged over the plot.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/00\/69956595-0-Pogba_s_brother_Mathias_left_spent_three_months_in_prison_last_y-a-82_1694560646714.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pogba&#8217;s brother Mathias (left) spent three months in prison last year for his alleged role in the extortion plot against France and Juventus footballer Paul\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/00\/75357719-0-image-a-78_1694560351151.jpg\" height=\"533\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The former Wrexham and Crewe player spent three months in prison before he was released on the condition that he does not contact his brother. The 33-year-old denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>Four others \u2014 believed to be childhood friends of the Pogbas \u2014 are also under investigation for extortion and criminal association. \u2018Money changes people,\u2019 Pogba told Al Jazeera this week. \u2018It can break up a family, it can create a war. Sometimes I was by myself thinking, \u201cI don\u2019t want to have money any more, I just don\u2019t want to play any more\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>That decision may now be taken out of Pogba\u2019s hands. Juventus have hardly come out fighting in his defence, fuelling claims it may suit them to tear up his contract.It has turned into a sad and rather unseemly return to Turin for such a gifted footballer.<\/p>\n<p>In Manchester, they know how that feels.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12511323\/How-Paul-Pogba-went-hero-zero-blockbuster-89m-Man-United-World-Cup-glory-injuries-extortion-failed-drugs-test-end-career.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>How Paul Pogba went from hero to zero: From a blockbuster \u00a389m Man United move and World Cup glory to injuries, extortion and a failed <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/how-paul-pogba-went-from-hero-to-zero\/\" title=\"How Paul Pogba went from hero to zero\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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