'Lazy' Paul Pogba wasted his career - Graeme Souness

Former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness was one of Paul Pogba’s biggest critics during the Frenchman’s time at Manchester United.

The France international midfielder moved to Old Trafford in 2016 for a then-world record fee of €105 million.

He only starred for the club in fits and starts, earning the ire of his manager Jose Mourinho, and was widely reviled by supporters by the time his contract ran out last summer.

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In his role as Sky Sports pundit, the Scot often laid into the World Cup winner for his attitude and application.

Following Pogba’s four-year ban for doping, Souness has again had his say.

“There really was never any doubt about Pogba’s ability,” he wrote in his Mail+ column. “What I saw in him was a player with great technical ability and physique who had the potential to be one of the best midfield players our sport had ever known.

“It was his lack of honesty and poor effort levels which always frustrated me. Frankly, he was lazy.”

Pogba's disastrous return to Juventus

Pogba rejoined Juventus in summer 2022, on a contract worth around €10 million a season. He was injured almost immediately, then turned down the club’s advice for knee surgery in a vain attempt to be fit for the World Cup.

He ended up missing the tournament anyway, having aggravated his injury and requiring the surgery.

The 30-year-old has only played 12 times for Juventus since moving back to Turin and didn’t even get off the bench on the night he failed his doping test.

That was a Serie A game back in August against Udinese with Pogba being provisionally suspended in September.

A second sample also returned a positive finding and now Pogba finds himself on the scrapheap after the anti-doping tribunal accepted the FIGC Prosecutors’ request for a four-year suspension.

Pogba should have been one of the greats

Souness believes it’s a sad end for a player who could well have gone on to become one of the all-time greats.

“Someone with the extreme talent he possessed should perform in a way which means he is remembered as one of the best players in the world, long after has left the stage. Instead, he wasted his career,” Souness said.

“He should have bowed out with multiple honours, remembered as one of the very best of his generation. Instead, he’s someone who wasted his God-given talents and athleticism.”