The French police have launched an investigation into World Cup winner Paul Pogba’s allegations that he is being intimidated and targeted for extortion by gangsters, AFP reported. Pogba’s accusations followed the release of a video by his brother Mathias Pogba that promised “big revelations” about the Juventus star and his manager Rafaela Pimenta, who took over as head of the company of former agent Mino Raiola who died in April. The video was posted online in four languages (French, Italian, English, and Spanish).

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Who is Paul Pogba?

Paul Pogba is a World Cup-winning professional footballer, who plays for France. He plays for the Serie A club Juventus and the French international team.

Pogba was born on March 15, 1993 to Guinean parents in Lagny-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne. He follows Islam. He has two older twin brothers, Florentin and Mathias, who both play football for the Guinean national team and were born in Guinea. While Mathias most recently played as an attacker for ASM Belfort, Florentin is currently a defender for ATK Mohun Bagan.

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Six-year-old Pogba started playing football at US Roissy-en-Brie, a team located a few kilometres south of his house. Before moving on to US Torcy, he played for the club for seven seasons, including as captain of the under-13 team. Pogba joined professional team Le Havre after playing for Torcy for a single season. Pogba confirmed on July 31, 2009, that he was leaving Le Havre to join the Manchester United junior academy in England. He finalised his transfer to Manchester United on October 7, 2009, and made his debut with the club’s under-18 team on October 10, 2009, following much controversy in which Le Havre claimed United had “tapped” Pogba.

Before Manchester United’s FA Cup fifth-round encounter against Crawley Town on February 19, 2011, Pogba was one of four academy players promoted to the first-team squad by then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson. He was given the number 42 jersey for the match. Before the 2011–12 campaign began, Ferguson declared that Pogba will play a role for the senior squad. On August 15, 2011, Pogba made his debut at the team’s Premier Reserve League opener against Arsenal. On January 31, 2012, Pogba faced Stoke City in his Premier League debut, coming on in the 72nd minute to replace Javier Hernández.

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Ferguson said on July 3 that Paul Pogba had departed the team without agreeing to a new contract. The transfer was completed on 3 August, when he signed a four-year contract. On August 1, he made his debut for Juventus in a preseason friendly against Benfica in Geneva, replacing Andrea Pirlo in the 78th minute. He remained with the team for four seasons, earning the coveted number 10 jersey in the 2015–16 campaign. 

On August 8, 2016, Pogba signed a five-year contract to return to Manchester United, breaking Gareth Bale’s previous record for the biggest football transfer fee of €105 million plus bonuses. When he returned to Manchester United, Paul Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, reportedly received €27 million from Juventus. He made his debut appearance for the team in a 2-0 Premier League win over Southampton at home on August 19.

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However, Pogba was unable to restore United to their earlier heights. The only prizes won during his six-season tenure were the 2017 League Cup and the Europa League. Pogba played a prominent part for the most of the 2017–18 season as United finished second to Manchester City and lost the FA Cup final to Chelsea. However, as the two managers’ relationship soured, Pogba began to appear less frequently. Following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reintegration into the team and his slightly more advanced style of play, Pogba finished the 2018–19 season with 16 goals and 11 assists across all competitions, easily his performance. 

During the summer of 2019, Pogba hinted that his time at the club was coming to an end as he said “it could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else”. However he went on to play three more seasons with the club. Juventus announced Pogba’s return on July 11, 2022, with a four-year deal. Pogba suffered a meniscus injury on July 26 and is expected to be out of action for two months.