Paul Pogba’s off-field stock continues to rise with the Frenchman’s brand growing day by day. Unfortunately, the Manchester United midfielder’s displays on the pitch are not on quite the same upwards trajectory.
Paul Pogba is currently one of the most scrutinzed players in the world. A £89 million price tag will do that for you. But at the midway point of his first season after returning to Manchester United, Pogba is not yet fully justifying his price tag or hype.
The Frenchman put in a particularly poor showing against Liverpool on Sunday, including giving away a penalty for handball. Pogba has had some adapting to do since joining United and obviously still has a way to go before he can consistently perform at his peak.
A new country or club is not one of the things Pogba has had to adapt to, though, with the 23-year-old already knowing England, the Premier League and Manchester United pretty well. It’s adapting to Jose Mourinho’s way of playing and a more disciplined midfield role that is taking time.
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Not that Pogba isn’t generally playing better now than he was earlier in the season – he is. But despite some improvement, all is still not right with his level of play. Off the field, however, things are going from strength to strength.
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Clothing, advertisements and even emojis now are all feeding the Pogba brand. Just the day after the Liverpool draw, and a poor showing from the United man, Adidas launched their collection of Paul Pogba branded clothing.
But is the Pogba brand now actually outgrowing Paul Pogba the player at this point? And where is Pogba’s true focus at present?
Mourinho has even aided his £89 million man recently by playing Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera in central midfield and handing Pogba license to roam a little more. Less defensive duties. That kind of role is more natural for Pogba and his performances have reflected that.
But when you’re talking about £89 million, Pogba is just not justifying that fee. Which, if everybody agrees that the fee is excessive and unfair, was probably only to be expected. But now, suddenly, Pogba the player is not even living up to Pogba the brand, and that’s a totally different story.
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A player can put his time and effort into whatever he wants to. He can apply his focus to what he sees as most important. It’s his ship to steer. Right now, it feels like Pogba is more focused on his value off the pitch than on it.
Maybe that is wrong. Maybe it’s a tad harsh. But the reality is that Pogba’s off-field activities are outshining his on-field performances. Surely that cannot be right.