Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has made his feelings perfectly clear on Paul Pogba after the former Manchester United star received a lengthy ban from football.
Paul Pogba, who left Old Trafford for the second time in 2022, had been provisionally suspended after he failed a drugs test last September.
The 30-year-old Frenchman was found to have had elevated levels of testosterone in his system, with a second sample from Pogba testing positive last October.
The Juventus midfielder has now been hit with a four-year suspension from football over the doping offence, with Pogba since breaking his silence over the news.
Pogba has protested his innocence over the failed drugs test and the former Manchester United midfielder can appeal the ban he received.
United players reacted to the news of Pogba’s ban and Red Devils supporters also made their feelings clear on the 2018 World Cup winner’s suspension from football.
Pogba, whose second spell at Juventus was plagued with injuries, can fight the battle to clear his name by taking his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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Souness’ criticism of ex-Man Utd star Pogba
Paul Pogba’s ban has been backdated to the date of his failed drugs test in 2023, with the former Manchester United player ineligible to play until 2027.
The Juventus player would be the age of 34 before he would be eligible to play football again on a professional level.
Graeme Souness was a staunch critic of Pogba during the Frenchman’s time at Old Trafford and the Liverpool legend pulled no punches when he had the chance.
Speaking in his column for The Daily Mail, the former Sky Sports pundit claimed that a player like Pogba had “extreme talent” and had “huge potential.”
However, Souness added that the former France international “always frustrated” him due to his “lack of honesty” and his “poor effort levels” on the pitch.
“It was his lack of honesty and poor effort levels which always frustrated me,” he wrote for the newspaper.
“Frankly, he was lazy. 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. Having won the World Cup with France in Russia, in 2018, he allowed himself to get into his armchair and was never fully committed to the cause of being a team player.
“I criticised him to such a substantial degree – and take no satisfaction from saying I was proved right – because I could see that huge potential. I saw the kind of player he could become.”
Souness’ on Pogba’s future
Pogba made a name for himself after he left United in 2012 and signed for Serie A side Juventus, with the Frenchman excelling in his first spell in Turin.
The ex-United man was also a key player for France manager Didier Deschamps and found success on the international stage with his country at the 2018 World Cup.
However, Pogba’s return to United in 2016 and his second spell at Old Trafford divided fans, with some believing the midfielder failed to live up to his potential.
Souness insisted that it was “sad to hear” about Pogba’s failed drugs test and believes that the World Cup winner’s career at an “elite level” is now over.
“It’s sad to hear that the drugs test found elevated levels of testosterone in his system,” he said.
“As if he didn’t have enough athleticism. A drug like that would make him more powerful, with higher energy levels and it would also make him an angrier person to be around.
“He is 30 years old and we won’t see him at an elite level again. A desperately sad ending to the career of someone who had the world at his feet and might still have been talked about, 20, 30 or 40 years from now.”