Paul Pogba was born March 15, 1993 in Langy-sur-Marne, Siene-et-Marne, France, about 50 miles north of Paris. Born to Guinean parents, he is the youngest of three, with two older twin brothers — Florentin and Mathias — who both ply their trade in football as well.
Pogba began his football career at age six for a local club called US Roissy-en-Brie where he stayed until his teens and managed a move over to US Torcy, a prominent youth academy. After only one year at Torcy, Le Havre came calling and Pogba would now move into professional football playing for the Ligue 2 side.
After a couple good seasons with the Le Havre youth team and good performances on the international stage for France, Pogba’s abilities were noticed by some of Europe’s elite and a transfer always seemed on the cards.
In 2009, amid controversy, Pogba announced he would be leaving Le Havre for Manchester United’s youth academy, despite having signed a non-solicitation agreement, meaning he could not have any contact with other clubs until his current contract was set to expire.
In Pogba’s defense, US Torcy came forward and claimed that Le Havre was guilty of the very same practices of which they were accusing Manchester United. In the end, Pogba made his move to Manchester. Again, after much success at the youth level, Pogba was promoted to the Manchester United reserves team for the 2011-2012 campaign.
Pogba made his first team debut on September 19th, 2011 against Leeds United in the Capital One Cup or English League Cup. After only a number of appearances for the Red Devils, Juventus came calling, and just like before Pogba moved to a new club without letting his current one know much about it.
Paul was immediately put into the first team upon his arrival in Turin and his impact was magnificent.
Although he only scored five goals in his first season at Juventus, his natural talent and ability were on full display every game. He was given the nicknames “Il Polpo Paul” (Paul the Octopus) because of his long legs and “Pogboom!” for his aggressive and high tempo level of play.
His performances were of such quality that he was handed Europe’s Golden Boy award in 2013, given to the best young player in Europe. His first season saw Juventus win Serie A, something they have done every year since his arrival. He has also managed one Coppa Italia win and three Italia Supercoppa wins and in the 2014-2015 season he helped Juventus reach the UEFA Champions League final where they ultimately lost to Barcelona.
His accolades continue at the international level. Pogba has always been a prominent member of France’s youth teams through the years, scoring a number of goals and helping France win the U-20 World Cup in 2013, where he also won the Golden Ball of the tournament.
In 2014 he made it on to the French first team and travelled to Brazil where he would have a wonderful tournament, scoring against Nigeria during the group phase and winning the FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award, a true honor.
Paul Pogba’s ability is next level. At 22, he already plays like a veteran but has the energy and endurance of half a dozen people.
He is a true box-to-box midfielder, a rare find, but it is not only that he covers a lot of ground, he is consistently setting up the attacking play for his team and often proves to be a brick wall defensively when other teams try to counter or press. He seems to be everywhere at once on the pitch and has no problem letting off a 40-yard missile of a shot if he sees an opportunity, another trait that is very hard to find, especially when they go in so often.
Being so young Pogba only has room to grow, which is scary considering he is already considered one of Europe’s most elite midfielders. From a manager's perspective Pogba sets the standard for off the pitch behaviour as he would rather spend time with his girlfriend and his family than be out partying at nightclubs. Brains and brawn, he is the complete package on and off the pitch, for club and for country.
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