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#3 Paul Pogba
On 8th August 2016, Manchester United announced that the prodigal son was returning home. It was a great time for the Manchester United marketing team, as the excitement and the attention the news generated heightened the club’s popularity and had a positive effect on the club’s commercial reach.
Mourinho and Zlatan, it seemed had played an important part and one of the best young talents in the world had arrived at Old Trafford on a record transfer fee, from Juventus. Expectations had hit the roof when Pogba made his debut for United, but he could not live up to them initially.
He did recover his form soon and showed flashes of his brilliance, even though the consistency was missing. He scored some vital goals for United too, including one in the defeat of Hull City in the second leg of the EFL Cup Semi Final and the crucial goal in the final of the Europa League.
In his first season, Pogba scored 5 goals and provided 4 assists in the league and scored 9 goals in total. His second season was tougher than his first. He was on a brilliant run of games before getting injured and missing a chunk of the season.
On his return, he was faced with criticism for his half-hearted performances from the press and there was news of differences with his manager. All the while Pogba continued to strive, not making his opinion or rumoured differences with his manager public.
However, he gave the world a timely reminder of his talents after inspiring United from 0-2 down at halftime in the Manchester Derby at the Etihad. Pogba scored 2 goals as United came back to win the game 3-2. He ended his second season with 6 goals.
With a World Cup win in the summer, Pogba will be ready to inspire Manchester United in the new season and the team will be looking forward for him to run the engine through the middle of the park.
Often harshly criticized for his off-field antics and for every little mistake he makes in a game, Pogba has the talent and the confidence, as a current World Champion, to shut his critics. With time and experience, Pogba could yet turn out to be one of the finest bit of business done by Manchester United in the near future.
