Football pundit Garth Crooks has stated that, although he disagrees with the belief that the Juventus and France midfielder has wasted his career, he believes Paul Pogba made a mistake in returning to Manchester United at the time he did.
Fans widely believe that Pogba wasted his true potential and focused on stuff off the pitch more than his focus on his game.
These reservations of the fans have been echoed by his recent four-year ban for doping.
Pogba’s trophy cabinet has been used by Crooks to indicate that he doesn’t think there’s much evidence to support the claim that the 30-year-old can’t be content with his illustrious career.
The French midfielder achieved success in Serie A, while playing for Juventus, and he also won the FIFA World Cup with France, scoring in the final against Croatia.
Nevertheless, Pogba had two particularly difficult stints at Old Trafford: the first as a young player, when he was rarely included in the first team squad, and the second when he returned to the team after a big money move from Juventus.
“The headline ‘The wasted talent’, which referred to the four-year suspension imposed this week on Juventus and former Manchester United player Paul Pogba for doping offences, made me chuckle,” Crooks said in his BBC Sport column.
“He certainly is an enigma; a complicated and inconsistent player without doubt, but no right-minded football person could ever argue that his talent has been wasted – he won four Italian Serie A titles and a World Cup for goodness sake. There can only be a handful of players anywhere in the world with that sort of record.
“Pogba’s mistake was returning to Manchester United for a staggering £89m, and not just failing to win the Premier League, but not even coming close. That is why the France superstar will never acquire the legendary status afforded by United fans to the likes of Bryan Robson, Roy Keane or David Beckham, none of whom had Pogba’s gifts or won the World Cup.”
Whatever little success the club had since Pogba’s move back to the club, the Frenchman was an active part of it and contributed to the team.
He was often criticised for not being focused on the game, sometimes rightly and sometimes harshly, but his quality and presence for the team was underrated.
