One of the most talented players in Manchester United’s recent history is Paul Pogba. The Red Devils broke the world record transfer fee at the time, 2016, to bring him to Old Trafford from Juventus for £89m.
Whether or not he lived up to the expectation is entirely down to personal perspective.
The midfielder’s stats at Old Trafford, however, are more than respectable. He played 226 times between 2016 and 2022 in that famous Red shirt, scoring 39 goals and grabbing 48 assists.
The midfielder also won two trophies, the Carabao Cup and the Europa League, scoring in the final of the latter.
What made Pogba’s move to Old Trafford even more incredible was the fact it was his second spell at the club, after he left for free in 2012. He is a graduate of the esteemed Carrington academy, and it was there where all the hype for the Frenchman was built.
Pogba’s first spell at United
Back in his academy days at United, Pogba was unstoppable. He was already physically far more developed than most others his age and stood tall above the rest, although not only in his height; the Frenchman was simply better than many other players.
Watching back clips of the former United midfielder during his time as an academy player, it is clear to see just how much of his game today has been transferred from those early days. The silky talent, who is known today for his wicked long passes, trickery on the ball and strength in duels, possessed all those traits in the academy.
His performances for the Red Devils reserve side in 2011/12, the campaign he broke into the first team under Sir Alex Ferguson, showed exactly why the legendary Scotsman put his faith in the youngster. Pogba played 16 reserve games that term, scoring three goals and grabbing six assists.
The France international, who won the World Cup in 2018, achieved FA Youth Cup success with the academy, alongside the likes of Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison. That side of 2011 did have the claim as United’s most recent triumph in the competition until 2022 when Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo began to get widespread recognition.
Pogba made seven first-team appearances for the Red Devils before leaving for Juventus in 2012, and, of course, rejoining the club four years later. It is fair to say he was creating some of the biggest hype in world football and was described as a “highly-rated young player” back in 2012 by The Guardian.
In recent years, United may well have lost another talent who was even once compared to Pogba, although he too departed in underwhelming circumstances like the Frenchman.
The midfielder who Man Utd sold for peanuts
The player in question here is another Red Devils academy graduate, Zidane Iqbal. The 21-year-old once had plenty of hype around him, just as Pogba had in his academy days, but it did not work out for him at Old Trafford.
A composed, press-resistant midfielder, Iqbal made well over 50 appearances for the United academy. He first got the chance to show what he could do in the first team under Ralf Rangnick in 2021, making his sole Red Devils appearance in December in the Champions League against BSC Young Boys.
He was compared to United’s former number six by Goal, who claimed the excitement level surrounding the Iraq international was similar to that of Pogba, before going on to say ‘Iqbal’s talent is undeniable’.
It may seem puzzling, then, that Erik ten Hag was happy to sell him in June 2023, particularly after claims that the Dutchman had been left impressed by him during the 2022 pre-season.
In the end, the 21-year-old moved for a fee in the region of £857k to Eredivisie side Utrecht, having surprisingly failed to make a first team appearance in 2022/23 under Ten Hag’s watch.
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The youngster has impressed in the Netherlands, making 22 appearances so far after injuries disrupted his progress. Some of his performances in particular stand out, including two impressive showings at the start of the season.
Stat
vs. Zwolle
vs. Heerenveen
Touches
68
60
Pass accuracy
87%
82%
Passes completed
47/54
31/38
Ground duels won
5/6
10/14
Tackles won
1/1
5/7
Long balls completed
4/7
2/3
Fouls won
3
4
The Red Devils may well look back on the deal to sell Iqbal one day as the wrong move, just as they arguably regretted losing Pogba.
They will surely be disappointed the youngster could not quite live up to expectations and become the next great academy graduate at Old Trafford.
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