Paul Pogba sent a “big thank you” to fans for their support as he posted an update on his mental wellbeing in the wake of his brother’s accusations against him.
In a bizarre and alarming video released on social media in late August, Mathias Pogba vowed to expose “explosive” revelations about his sibling. The former Wrexham, Crew and Crawley forward, 32, claimed to know secrets about Juventus midfielder Pogba, 29, his new agent and France teammate Kylian Mbappe.
In response, Pogba’s mother and lawyer released a statement alleging Mathias is part of a group aiming extort the World Cup winner. They also confirmed that the “relevant authorities” in France and Italy were already aware of this and there is an “ongoing investigation”.
French police have since confirmed that they have opened a probe into Mathias and the alleged “group-organised” crime. As if this investigation was not enough of an ordeal for Pogba, the former Manchester United ace has been sidelined until after the World Cup in Qatar this winter after undergoing an operation on his knee.
“Pogba trained for the second time but then stopped, and it was then decided that he undergo surgery,” Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri said. “The World Cup is not my problem, Juventus’ problem is that he comes back in January.”
Despite all that is going on, Pogba was in good spirits as he sent a reassuring message to supporters via his Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon, saying: “Hi all, hope you are all well. I’m fine, thank God the operation went very well. We will recover and come back very soon. I would like to thank you all for your messages, for your support, despite the injury and the other problems, mentally I’m okay.
“Keep your head up. I’m not alone, I’m with God. Anyway, big thank you to all for your messages, for your support, all the messages I’ve seen on social media. We’ll be back bigger soon, I hope. And I send a greeting, a hug, always smiling. We thank God, see you soon.”
In a follow-up to his original video, Mathias Pogba alleged his brother had asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on Paris Saint-Germain superstar Mbappe, with whom he won the World Cup in 2018. The elder sibling claimed this was one of many revelations which would alter the public’s perception of one of the finest players of his generation.
However, Mbappe sided with his international teammate in no uncertain terms when quizzed on the accusations on Monday. He said of Pogba: “It is his word against the word of his brother, I am going to believe my teammate. It’s not a time to put more onto him. I’m pretty detached from it all.”
