Manchester United and France midfielder Paul Pogba has had an extremely up and down club season. He has received a whole lot of criticism, from all corners of the world of football opinion, on his inconsistent performances this campaign. His failure to live up to the astronomical, unbelievable expectations that were placed upon him since his record setting £89.3m return to United in the summer of 2016 has been an oft discussed topic this campaign; as has been his over-analyzed relationship with manager Jose Mourinho.
After Saturday’s FA Cup Final against Chelsea, United’s season ends and Paul Pogba can shift his focus from club to country.
The 2018 World Cup will begin in the middle of next month, and Pogba has extremely high ambitions in regards to his individual performance. The winner of the Best Young Player award at the 2014 edition in Brazil, Pogba has his sights set even higher this time around. He did an interview with French media outlet Canal +, where he was asked if he could be a leader for a side that is considered among the favorites.
Pogba responded by saying he hopes to “boss” the tournament, both on and off the pitch.
“I hope now, at the World Cup. I’m going to take the reins of the France team, try to be the boss on and off the pitch,” Pogba said.
“I hear it a lot. I hope to give my answer on the pitch and show everyone. I was the best young player [in 2014]. I hope I’ll be the best player overall at the World Cup. That would be great.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.