The story of the Pogba brothers may shock fans because, in the past, Paul used to talk about himself and his brother as a story of love and family who always have each other's back.
However, as of now, multiple cases of conflict between the two brothers could lead to time behind bars.
How could this happen between them? From blackmailing and witchcraft to hiring the mafia, find out the full story on Main Stand.
All for one, and one for all
Paul Pogba was born in Lagny-Sur-Marne, the suburb area in the east of Paris, and he had a pretty rough childhood.
His parents migrated from Guinea with twins Florentin and Mathias. After they moved to France, Paul was born and was the first in the family to have French nationality.
The three brothers have been playing football since they were young.
Their mother worked hard to support their education and other activities because they grew up in a neighborhood full of crime and drug dealers. Luckily, three of them all have football talent, especially Paul, who has exceeded everybody since he was very young.
"As a little boy, Paul was curious to know many things about life. His mind was open, so big, beyond his age," his father recalled about young Paul.
"Paul had in-depth knowledge of certain subjects. So I encouraged him to do lots of things and to follow his interests which he did in football. When I saw Paul play football for the first time, I could see that his technique beat that of his peers. Paul was four years old and always played with big boys older than him."
Fast forward to 12 years after his interview, Paul became one of the most exciting footballers in the world.
Manchester United brought him into their junior team before moving to Juventus and returning to United for €100 million.
Since becoming famous, many wanted to know about his family's background.
After people knew them better, Mathias, one of Paul's elder brothers, used social media to gain more attention for himself.
He gave several interviews about his brother's life, like when he commented that the coach and other footballers in United were the reason his brother's form worsened. He also teased about Paul's transfer rumors from the first to the last season Paul was with Manchester United.
Mathias was like Paul’s guardian angel. Even when the media talked severely about his brother, both twins were ready to defend his brother and let him focus on his career.
At first glance, it seems like just another healthy relationship between brothers. Still, everything changed when Paul was transferred to Juventus again without any fees after his contract ended in the summer of 2022, like what happened 10 years ago.
What does the move to Juve mean?
Moving to Juventus as a free-agent player means that Paul Pogba got a salary of more than eight million euros per year, and with all the signing fees added, he would receive more than €24 million.
It is a massive amount of money, even for Paul Pogba, and this money is what started the feud between the brothers.
Not long after he signed with Juventus, Paul's lawyer sued Mathias for attempting to blackmail Paul with a €13 million demand and stealing €300,000 from Paul's credit card.
"What happened was threats and extortion attempts by an organized gang. The competent authorities in Italy and France were informed a month ago, and there will be no further comments concerning the ongoing investigation," Paul's lawyer said.
How could this happen? What's the reason behind it?
During the last three months, when Paul Pogba was with Manchester United, he negotiated with Juventus about his salary. Also, he returned to Lagny-Sur-Marne, his hometown, and was threatened with a rifle.
Paul Pogba's childhood friend has been living in this area and has become the crime boss. He pulled Paul into the apartment and started to accuse Paul that he had never helped his friend since he became a football superstar, and it was now the time for him to help a friend who protected him when he was a boy.
Paul's friend demanded €11 million and threatened, "if not, the world will see what Paul Pogba doesn't want them to see."
No one knows what is in the blackmail. Still, it makes Paul scared because his house in Manchester was broken into just a few days before the incident.
Many valuable items, including the 2018 world champion medal, were stolen. One item stolen was "something that Paul doesn't want anyone to see" as well.
Paul returned to Manchester United in bad shape, which involved how he was threatened daily.
At first, he intended to comply and attempted to withdraw one million euros from the crime gang as the initial payment, but he was stopped by the company that was taking care of his finances. They told Pogba not to follow suit.
However, Paul couldn't stop thinking about it and eventually paid 100,000 euros as hush money, but he was threatened every other day.
No matter where he went, the crime gang knew all his moves. It took him one month to figure out that both of his brothers were involved in this because there is evidence showing them with Paul's friend.
Then the war between the brothers started. His brothers knew everything about him, and whether he paid or not, it would not be over quickly.
Eventually, Paul made a police report before every media outlet took up the story.
Both of his brothers attempted to retort this. But instead, they spread Paul's rumors daily. The brothers also said things like how Paul Pogba used to do witchcraft on his French national team colleague Kylian Mbappé.
"The French, Italian, English, and Spanish public deserve to know certain things," Mathias said.
"The whole world, including my brother's fans, France, Juventus, and his sponsors. They need to have the information and decide whether he deserves respect and love from the fans if he deserves to play for Juventus and a place in the France World Cup squad.
"Kylian, now do you understand? I have nothing negative against you, my words are for your good, and everything is true and proven. The marabou is known! Sorry to this brother, a so-called Muslim deep in witchcraft. It's never good to have a hypocrite and a traitor near you."
No matter how many times Mathias accused his brother, there's still the fact that he is guilty, and when the story reaches the police, the table has turned.
Paul doesn't need to hide in secret anymore. He pressed charges with Italian police with full support from Juventus. His team stated that Mathias attempted to threaten Paul many times, and there was a use of a firearm involved as well.
It's time Mathais pays for his action.
The turning tide
Paul Pogba wanted to make this right by pressing charges on his brothers. He testified that his brothers, who took part in an organized crime group with his childhood friend and two other masked guys, threatened him with firearms and demanded €13 million. Mathias came forward to extort Paul again but in a very different manner.
"Paul, you wanted to shut me up completely, to lie and send me to prison. I suspected it," Mathias said.
"I'll tell you again: brother, manipulating people is not good! It's not about money: you implicated me despite me, I almost died because of you, you left me in a hole, and you want to play innocent.
"When everything is said, people will see that there is no bigger coward, bigger traitor, and bigger hypocrite than you on this earth."
It was clear that Mathias, who used to accuse Paul, now frighteningly threatened him because it was bigger than he could handle now.
The police secretly started the investigation in early August until they found the evidence that directly led to Mathias. So the police took Mathias in custody to interrogate, meaning that right now, he might have to sleep in jail for a while.
There is also a rumor saying that Mathias had been demanding money from Paul for more than 13 years, or since Paul first signed his contract with Manchester United when he was 16 years old.
This is all we know up to this point. Now we would have to wait and see Mathias' trial in court and also his punishment. This story shows how much burden Paul Pogba had to carry since he was very young, and it kept getting heavier and heavier once he became successful.
Family is something you cannot choose to have, and sometimes you would have to take responsibility for the others in the family even though you don't want to.
This rings true to the life of Paul Pogba, and maybe if he wouldn't have to carry this, he might have been a more successful footballer.
Sources:
https://football-italia.net/pogba-brothers-saga-what-we-need-so-far-and-why-mbappe-is-involved/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/19654038/mathias-pogba-blackmail-paul-life/
https://www.indy100.com/sport/paul-pogba-revelations-witchcraft-saga
https://sportsbrief.com/football/juventus/23010-paul-pogba-mathias-pogba-accuses-juventus-star-spending-millions-witchcraft/
https://www.pulse.ng/sports/sports-gist/paul-pogba-mbappe-witchcraft-saga-mathias-pogba-blackmail/7nrwbrm
https://lifebogger.com/paul-pogba-childhood-story-plus-untold-biography-facts/
