Paul Scholes has now dropped an eye-opening account of his brief experience with former Manchester United teammate Paul Pogba at Old Trafford.
Paul Pogba was part of the Manchester United youth academy after he left French side Le Havre in 2009 and started to make a name for himself as an emerging talent.
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The 32-year-old received his United first-team debut under iconic ex-manager Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford before making the major decision to leave the club.
Pogba chose not to sign a new contract with United, much to the annoyance of Sir Alex Ferguson, and completed a sensational free transfer move to Juventus.
Joining Juventus in 2012 for his first spell, the Frenchman deeply impressed and developed into one of the best midfielders in the world during his time in Turin.
Paul Scholes’ verdict on a young Paul Pogba at Man Utd and what he noticed about the Monaco midfielder
Paul Scholes was in the tail end of his legendary Manchester United playing career when Paul Pogba started knocking on the door of the first team at Old Trafford.
Speaking on his podcast with Nicky Butt, Scholes opened up about his brief interactions with former United midfielder Pogba before he retired from football.
The 51-year-old United legend admitted that Pogba was a “really talented player” and he could see how the 2018 World Cup winner was tipped to reach new heights.
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“I can only speak of being with him as a young player,” Scholes said on ‘The Good, The Bad & The Football’ podcast.
“When he was young, he was a nice person, [a] really nice person, [a] really talented player. You could see he was going to be a proper footballer.
“I know he was a little bit upset when he went, I think Rafael and might have been Phil Jones, in the Blackburn [Rovers] game.
“The Blackburn game around the Christmas time. It’s actually when I came back. It was that game after that that I decided to come back.
“I always think sometimes it was I one who possibly stopped his development at United as well. I don’t know. He was a talented kid.”
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Pogba made his return to football with Monaco on Saturday after the former France international had been serving a ban for a failed drugs test since 2023.
The former United star left his ill-fated second spell with Juventus in 2024 after his contract was mutually terminated before he signed for Monaco back in the summer.
Scholes also spoke about the issues around Pogba’s emergence at Old Trafford and felt that the Monaco signing could have been a first-team mainstay in his first spell.
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“I remember he weren’t happy at the time,” he continued.
“But I also remember he was playing in the reserves at the time of Warren Joyce [former United reserves manager] and he wasn’t playing very well. He wasn’t doing well at that time and he missed a chance.
“If he was doing well, I think he’d have been straight in. Because he was that talent. He was such a big, powerful player.
“You didn’t want to go near him. Honestly, he was just one of them.”
Pogba came off the bench for Monaco in the second half of the 4-1 thumping at the hands of Rennes in the Ligue 1 clash at the Roazhon Park on the weekend.
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