‘I fell into depression’ – Paul Pogba opens up on Manchester United spell | OneFootball

Paul Pogba was one of the Premier League’s biggest transfer stories when he returned to formative club Manchester United back in the summer of 2016. He moved from Juventus back to his former club for a then-record fee of €110m, just four years after he left Old Trafford as a teenager. Pogba recently spoke to GQ France and opened up about his time in Manchester, revealing all was clearly not well below the surface after an initial triumphant return to the club.“I was really sad when I left Manchester at 19,” Pogba now reflects. “At first, I cried. Coming back to the club that meant so much to me was always my goal.”The buzz surrounding his return matched United’s wider ambitions. With Zlatan Ibrahimović also arriving, and José Mourinho taking over as manager, the Red Devils looked to be brimming once again with star power. Yet Pogba reveals it was not all well under the surface. His relationship with manager José Mourinho was beginning to fray.“I didn’t understand what was happening,” Pogba admits. “I was a key player and suddenly, I was on the bench. There was no communication. I couldn’t talk. I wasn’t happy—and a footballer who isn’t happy can’t perform well.”“I fell into depression without even realising it,” he says. “Nobody teaches you what depression is. Until one day, I started getting bald spots in my scalp. I didn’t understand what it was. They told me it was stress.”The Frenchman won the World Cup in 2018, before moving on to Juventus in 2022. Only months after his arrival at the Italian club, Pogba was lured into an ambush where two masked gunmen demanded €13 million at gunpoint. The case reached a conclusion in late 2024, with his brother Mathias and five accomplices receiving prison sentences of up to eight years.The Frenchman has been eligible to play again after the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced a four-year doping ban to 18 months on appeal. Though currently without a club, the midfielder confirmed he’s received offers “from all over,” but is taking time to choose his next move carefully.GFFN | George Boxall