Paul Pogba: The curious case of the 'misunderstood one'?

The World Cup winning Frenchman, Paul Pogba has been in the news again after reports circulated that he has retired from the French National team amidst 'anti-islamic' comments made by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

Paul Pogba has been Manchester United’s or perhaps the Premier League’s most discussed player and there are barely any doubts regarding that. If he uploads a story on his social media handles, the media covers it, if he is in a party, the media questions if he should be there or not, if he gets a haircut, some media outlets keep accurate readings of how many variations the player has had until now. 
 

Until Jose Mourinho was the Red Devils boss, Pogba was in the news because of possible rifts with the manager. Now that the Portuguese is no longer associated with the club, questions over what is the Frenchman’s role especially after Bruno Fernandes has taken the number 10 role increased abruptly. 

Before that what is important to show how the United number 6 made the headlines again. Very recently, several media outlets including The Sun reported that the midfielder has quit the France National team over comments made by the country’s President Emmanuel Macron which were perceived to be ‘anti-Islam’. 
 

The Sun newspaper alleged that Pogba, a practising Muslim reacted to Macron’s comments by quitting the French national team. The 27-year-old took no time to bus yet another horrendous rumor about him. ‘Unacceptable’ is what he wrote expressing his distress over the issue. He also posted the headline from The Sun with a ‘fake news’ sticker on it.  
 

He said, “So The Sun did it again. Absolutely 100% unfounded news about me are going around, stating things I have never said or thought. I am appalled, angry, shocked, and frustrated that some ‘media’ sources use me to make total fake headlines on the sensible subject of French current events and adding the French national team to the plot. I am against any and all forms of terror and violence.” 
 

The French International then went on to say how media has been targeting him always and how these outlets need to verify their sources before they make such huge statements. However, all this has become very usual to the ex-Juventus starlet and he has now decided to take legal action too. 
 

As far as his position in the Manchester United dressing room is concerned, he is still a very instrumental part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plan if he has one. The Norwegian accepted that he was a bit too unfair on the World Cup winner as he was expected to play for longer durations despite having been recovered from the virus just a couple of days before the 2020-21 season commenced. 
 

To answer the question about how important he is to Man United, well he is and will remain an influential member of the squad until he decides to leave. Paul Pogba’s journey with Manchester United has seen several ups and downs but when he has been fully fit, the numbers have been there. 
 

The Frenchman was United’s leading man in almost every aspect of the game in the 2018/19 season where he barely missed a game. He had a brilliant start under Ole too but an injury at the beginning of the last season became a huge concern for him and the team. When he returned back fully fit, he had the ‘Portuguese magnifico’ by his side who basically made his job easier. 

The two have done well together since Manchester United’s brilliant run of games post-lockdown. As Ole said, Pogba is still a few weeks away from getting back to his 100%, however, despite that his link-up plays with Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood ,and Marcus Rashford prove that he still has a lot to achieve with these youngsters.  
 

featured image credits- eurosport.com