Ligue 1, idols, Zakaria… 10 things to know about Paul Pogba! | OneFootball

Having just arrived in the Principality to sign with AS Monaco until June 2027, discover key facts and about the midfielder who has played more than 500 career matches.

He has arrived to strengthen the Monaco midfield with the status of being one of the greatest French players of the 21st century. Previously having played for Juventus and Manchester United, Paul Pogba haas joined AS Monaco with a contract through June 2027. So, before he makes his big debut in La Diagonale, learn 10 things about the man nicknamed “La Pioche” (The Pickaxe). Portrait. 🖼

The 13th World Champion to play at the Club 🌟

As he begins his AS Monaco career, Paul Pogba will join a select group of World Champions to have played for the Club. Having won the title in 2018 with Les Bleus, he will be the 13th Monegasque to have won this holy grail after Jürgen Klinsmann in 1990, Fabien Barthez, Thierry Henry, Emmanuel Petit, Lilian Thuram and David Trezeguet in 1998, Cesc Fabregas in 2010 as well as Thomas Lemar, Kylian Mbappé, Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibé, who won the honor alongside the midfielder.

A man for the big occasion 🏆

Speaking of the 2018 World Cup, the midfielder was one of the key players in Les Bleus‘ victory, notably scoring the third goal in the final against Croatia (4-2).  It’s proof that he knows how to be decisive in major international tournaments. It’s quite simple: whether at Euro 2020 or before that in the 2016 European Championship, the 2014 World Cup or at the youth level at the U20 World Cup, the U19 Euros, as well as the U17 Euros, the French international (91 caps) has systematically found the net at least once.

He could have chosen another career 🏓

It’s a rich international career and one that Paul might never have had if he had chosen… table tennis. Because yes, in addition to football, he played this sport as a child and was even quite talented. “At 6 years old, he learned in a few minutes what others take a year to learn. There’s a technique used all over the world that involves hitting the ball at the top of the bounce. He had this timing naturally,” his coach recalls.

He’s yet to play in Ligue 1 ❌

But it was indeed football that the French midfielder rightly turned to, joining the Le Havre youth academy at 14, before joining Manchester United two years later, where he made his professional debut.

After spending time with Juventus between 2012 and 2016 and again between 2022 and 2024, and after returning to the Red Devils from 2016 to 2022, he will now be discovering Ligue 1 at just over 32 years old. And for the record, this could be against his the club of his youth, as AS Monaco will host Le Havre on the first matchday.

He has (already) stepped onto the pitch at the Stade Louis-II  🏟️

If he is set to play his first minutes in the French top flight, the native of Lagny-sur-Marne has already played at the Stade Louis-II. While it would have been with Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2015, this wasn’t the case due to injury. Instead, it was in Manchester United’s colours in a charity match against Olympique de Marseille in August 2011, when he was only 18 years old.

He’s played alongside one of his new teammates 🫂

On his second spell in Italy, Paul has already been able to get to know one of his future teammates: Denis Zakaria. The two players spent the summer pre-season of the 2022-2023 season together with Juve, before the Swiss international joined Chelsea on loan. It was a very short period of time, however, it was enough for the Monaco captain to appreciate this mini-collaboration. “he was impressive,” he recalled to RMC Sport in December 2023.

Famous idols 🤩

During his youth, the future number 8 of the Rouge et Blanc squad had rather good taste and appreciated very great players. In a podcast published by Manchester United, he revealed that he was a fan of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Djibril Cissé and Kaka. No wonder he chose attacking players, having been decisive 193 times in his career according to Transfermarkt (87 goals, 106 assists), despite playing as a box-to-box midfielder.

Top 3 in France on Instagram 📲

A world-renowned player, Paul Pogba is also known on social media, where his community is very large. Followed by more than 10 million people on X, this number is simply multiplied by six on Instagram where he has 63 million followers, a colossal total that makes him the third most-followed French player behind Kylian Mbappé (124 million) and Karim Benzema (75.7 million). Simply remarkable!

A keen sense of dance 🕺

It’s notably on this social network that he posts his craziest and most extravagant dances, renamed “Pogbance.” It’s a keen sense of dance that “La Pioche” doesn’t hesitate to showcase to celebrate a goal, like his unforgettable dab, first popularized by American rapper Migos, and then taken up repeatedly by younger fans a few years ago.

A documentary about him 🎥

Finally proving his international popularity, Amazon Prime Video released a documentary about him in June 2022, retracing the highlights of his career and life. Called “The Pogmentary,” this miniseries takes us into the player’s world with never-before-seen footage of his daily life (outings with his children, birthdays, vacations with Blaise Matuidi, etc.). Five half-hour episodes are available on the platform if you want to learn more about your future midfielder.