- Former Manchester United star strikes back at Graeme Souness
- Paul Pogba talks to Rio Ferdinand
- What did the Frenchman have to say?
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has hit back at Graeme Souness, years after the former Liverpool midfielder criticised the Frenchman for his performances in a United shirt.
Signing from Juventus for £89m in 2018, Pogba remains the club’s record signing, despite the deal taking place almost a decade ago.
At the time, it stood as the most expensive transfer in football history, before Neymar eclipsed it the following summer with his move to Paris Saint-Germain for a staggering £200m—more than double Pogba’s fee.
Throughout his time at United, Pogba drew constant scrutiny from pundits, the press and supporters alike. His spell at the club is now defined by unfulfilled potential.
Across stints under three different managers in his second spell, no one established a clear structure or role for him. Unlike Antonio Conte at Juventus and Didier Deschamps with France, Pogba often carried the burden of doing everything himself—an expectation that rarely yielded consistency.
Whilst the Frenchman produced moments of real quality—his performances in the 2016/17 Europa League remain vivid—United never fully harnessed one of the defining midfielders of his generation, a failure that ultimately accelerated his decline.
Pogba: I Didn’t Know Who Souness Was
The 2021/22 Manchester United season ranks among the most dispiriting in recent memory. Whilst last season’s 15th-place finish cut deep, the manner in which that campaign began briefly reignited belief that a 21st league title could follow.
On the opening day against Leeds United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side delivered a statement performance, dismantling their rivals 5-1 with electric, incisive football. Fernandes claimed his first United hat-trick, but Pogba commanded the spotlight.
Aside from Fernandes’ third, Pogba supplied every other goal, delivering a masterclass to become just the seventh player in Premier League history to register four assists in a single match.
Yet even then, the noise followed from the pundits. After the match, controversy surfaced as Souness dismissed the display, claiming that “we expect that from a £100m man,” the former Liverpool midfielder said, as Micah Richards reacted in disbelief at what he had just witnessed.
On Rio Ferdinand’s podcast, Pogba finally clapped back at Souness.
“I think we talk[ed] and I [said] I didn’t know who he was. I heard that he was a, he’s a legend.”
Ferdinand responded, “You didn’t know he played football?” With Pogba responding, “It wasn’t even that, I didn’t know who he was.”
Pogba Post-United
With Pogba now plying his trade in Ligue 1 for Monaco, one thing is clear. The Frenchman represents wasted potential at Manchester United.
And yet, he still produced moments of real electricity. The same, however, cannot be said of others who joined the league for a similar fee.
Take Florian Wirtz, for instance, who joined Liverpool in the summer of 2025 for £100m and is yet to truly find his footing on Merseyside. While there have been flickers of quality, his output has not reached the required level, with Arne Slot leaving him on the bench on multiple occasions.
Even so, although criticism of the German continues to grow, it has never reached the same relentless volume that followed Pogba throughout his time at United.
