Deeply marked by the extortion attempt of which he was the victim, Paul Pogba seriously considered ending his career.
The nightmare is over for Paul Pogba, but the memories will stay with you for life. Victim of an organized gang extortion attempt in March 2022, the French midfielder will never forget this day when two armed men kidnapped him, on the sidelines of a rally with the Blues. An experience all the more traumatic as this dark affair closely involved his brother, Mathias, and as it led to the sporting decline of “La Pioche”, injured numerous times since.
“Money changes people…, he confides in an interview with the Al Jazeera channel. It can break up a family. This can start a war. » This trauma almost pushed the native of Lagny-sur-Marne (30 years old) to hang up his crampons for good. “Sometimes I was alone and I thought, ‘I don’t want to have any more money. I don’t want to play anymore. I just want to be with normal people, so they love me for me, not for fame, not for money.’ Sometimes it’s difficult”, he said.
A year and a half after the events, the 2018 world champion is gradually finding his smile again at Juventus Turin, while his body leaves him more at peace. He therefore intends to do everything to regain his best level with, in his sights, Euro 2024 with the France team. “I want to show them that I’m not weakhe blurted. They can say bad things about me, I will never give up. You can accomplish something great, the next day you’re nobody. »
