On October 10, 2021, the final of the League of Nations won by the France team against Spain in Milan (2-1) once again consecrated Paul Pogba with the Blues. Already essential during the title acquired at the 2018 World Cup, the midfielder is once again in Italy and temporarily forgets the disappointment of Euro 2021. During this competition, he had been up to it. The boss of the Blues, the metronome of this team, the beacon in the night.
For a year, it has gradually died out until the formalization of its package, Monday, October 31, for the World Cup in Qatar (November 20-December 18). When he won the Nations League, Pogba saw in the France team a refuge that took him away from his daily life at Manchester United, which was increasingly gloomy. As a symbol, it is with the Blues that the infernal spiral will begin, on November 8, 2021.
At Clairefontaine, during a strike training, Pogba injured his quadriceps on a discount from his coach Didier Deschamps. The 29-year-old midfielder leaves the France group, misses the two games against Kazakhstan and Finland, to go for treatment for three long months. Back in early February, Pogba is present for the two friendly matches of the Blues at the end of March against Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa. But the thinning will not last.
During this period, La Pioche occupied more media coverage than football pitches. On March 16, while playing in the Champions League, he was the victim of a burglary at his house in the suburbs of Manchester. His two children were present at the home at the time of the events. His contractual situation is also the delight of the English tabloids: under contract until June 2022 with Manchester United, Pogba is free to commit where he wishes on this date.
“He received many offers“, assures his agent Mino Raiola, who dies on April 30. Unclear about his future, as the documentary will reveal a few weeks later. The Pogmentary, Paul Pogba then loses a privileged confidant. A few days before the death of his agent, the midfielder of Manchester United also relapsed. A calf injury picked up after ten minutes of a game against Liverpool on April 19 was his very last official match. An eternity.
His end of the season, Pogba passes it on the flank, recovering from his injury and wondering about his future. The matches of the France team in the League of Nations in June, he watches them on television. Without him, the Blues look pale. His absence is flagrant with an environment that is sorely lacking in creativity. His coach in Manchester, Ralf Rangnick, then wishes him the best for the future: “I hope he will find a club where he will find consistency without getting injured..”
This is also what Pogba wants above all by formalizing his return to Juventus on July 11, the club in which he hatched at the highest level between 2012 and 2016. The environment is quickly disillusioned. At the end of July, a lesion in the right meniscus began his physical preparation for the coming season. Juventus want him to have surgery so that they no longer have to deal with this problem. But faced with recovery times that could call into question his presence at the World Cup, La Pioche rules out this hypothesis.
2018 – Paul Pogba among midfielders at the 2018 World Cup:
58 duels won –
11 successful tackles – tied
44 balloons recovered –
17 fouls obtained –Package. pic.twitter.com/ruYFCMbc2s
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) October 31, 2022
Pogba will finally be forced to switch to the pool table on September 5. His second training session with Juventus was unconvincing. The midfielder is bothered by pain in his right knee and must resign himself to it: a race against the clock has just started, to hope to appear in Didier Deschamps’ list on Wednesday, November 9. Meanwhile, it is on the judicial field that Pogba has entered.
The midfielder has filed a complaint against some former relatives and his brother, Mathias Pogba, for attempted extortion. The case is currently in the hands of the courts. La Pioche, who claims to have been kidnapped before the French team gathered in March, does not seem to be disturbed by his operation and his extra-sporting problems.
“Mentally, it’s fine, despite all the worries and other problems. (…) We will recover and come back very quickly“says Pogba in a video on September 6, the day after his operation. A few days later, Didier Deschamps sends a message clearly intended for his midfielder: “I won’t leave (at the World Cup, editor’s note) with any player who is not physically fit for the first match.“
Thank you guys for all the messages and support!
I’ll be back soon – and stronger than ever! pic.twitter.com/nGgqqz8s6C— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) September 6, 2022
However, the coach had risked, on October 17 during the Ballon d’Or award ceremony, to give reassuring news from La Pioche: “Pogba is fine, his schedule is going well. The important thing is that he is cured, and I think he will be.“The list of November 9, Pogba then believes in it more and more and the midfielder seems ahead of the times of his rehabilitation.
Everything finally shattered on Monday. His lawyer Rafaela Pimenta, then Juventus, announced that the environment should continue its recovery phase. Like N’Golo Kanté, another essential link in the title of world champion acquired in 2018, Pogba will not defend his title in Qatar. Deschamps will have to rack his brains to find a solution to the void left by La Pioche in midfield. For Pogba, the galleys continue.