Pogba’s new manager banned from football for 10 months

Paul Pogba’s choice to move from United to Juventus clearly upset some United fans because many witnessed how it didn’t make sense. How could any teenager move from United just as they began to break into the first-team? Obviously the answer was all to do with money, but nevertheless the ‘will he, wont he’ over Paul Pogba’s future was blown way out of proportion for a young central midfielder with no first-team experience.

However, despite the nonsense, it remained a baffling choice by Pogba. Juventus apparently offered a guarantee of more first-team football but that seems hard to believe when they’ve got a strong team that’s just gone unbeaten through a whole season. For all the problems we have in that position at the moment, he’d probably get more games here. Add to that the fact Juventus played a game behind closed doors in 2009 after fans racially abused Mario Balotelli, it was an odd place for somebody like Pogba to want to move to.

The apparent intent to play Pogba was shown again earlier this week when it was announced he’d take the number 6 shirt for the upcoming season, but today, Pogba’s brief career at Juventus has taken another turn for the worst. Antonio Conte, the Juventus manager who promised him regular first-team football when it seemed so unrealistic, has been banned from football for 10 months following an investigation into his role in match-fixing.

The manager failed to report match-fixing while at his old club Siena, a trait Juventus probably loved considering they’ve been done for match-fixing over the last few years, too. A few years back they were relegated to the league below because of the club’s role in fixing matches in their favour. The long-term future of Conte remains unclear, but with a temporary manager set to be in charge for the time being, will Pogba get the amount of games he was originally promised? I’m not so sure.

It seems harsh to enjoy how the whole move has collapsed a little bit, but when somebody goes over one of the biggest clubs in the world just for a want of money, he deserves everything he gets. If a youngster leaves United on good terms it’s fine, I’ll wish them the best – but Pogba left purely because he wanted more money and he didn’t care who he mistreated on his way to getting it. Obviously I wish Pogba all the best in the long-term future, but for now let’s just enjoy his career going nowhere – even if it is just for a little bit.