Injury: I aged 10 years in seven months – Paul Pogba

French footballer, Paul Pogba has opened up on his struggle with injury since returning to Serie A club, Juventus, from EPL’s Manchester United.

Shortly after re-joining Juventus in 2022, Paul Pogba suffered a knee injury during their pre-season tour in the United States.

After undergoing surgery in September, Pogba was forced out of action until late February 2023. He made a few appearances before suffering a muscle issue in training. He overcame this and returned in May 2023 but was forced to end his season early due to a hamstring problem.

30-year-old Pogba who spoke to French outlet Views, noted that his injury struggles have made him “age 10 years in 7 months.

He said;

“Me, I’m thinking more of the positive criticism, because there will always be quite negative ones. But I don’t think about that. Today, I’m a professional footballer because I played that football and it’s that football that brought me to where I am today.

“I changed club, I had injuries. It is true that it was complicated, even outside of football. But I learned that the things that were important to me were health, playing football and family and really focusing on that.

“Returning to the pitch with health is important for everyone and especially for us athletes. My body is my work tool and the biggest luxury you can have in life is health.

“They made me grow a lot. These last few months have made me grow enormously, they have made me understand many things about life. I aged ten years! I aged ten years in seven months. And as I said, it can only be more for me, because I take it positively.

“I am a believer so these are stages and tests. Tests that made me grow, where I matured and learned a lot about life. I learned what the important things were. So, I took them really positively and they were a boost for me. And there, today, frankly, all that is behind me. They really forged me.”

When asked if the media furore surrounding him had an impact on his physical health, Pogba said;

“Ah, totally of course. Already the head, it controls everything. When you are not well in the head, the body follows. Even if you say ‘yeah, it’s going to be fine’, you are a football player, it’s good. Your body is really taking.

“And so, all these injuries that happened, I think the basis of it all was my head. Really, that’s been my head.

“And afterwards, when I realized all that, when I knew it was only my head, only my body, it really reacted to all these problems outside of football, on football, the thoughts, I was stressed, my body was tense.

“And I wanted so much to come back quickly, to play and show people, to shut everyone up a bit. Well actually it kind of kicked my ass and that’s why I took a step back and thought about myself and my well-being. It was rest, resume quietly.

“There, if you look, five or six months ago, what was the criticism we were hearing? After the decisive pass in yesterday’s match, there was praise that you heard well. It’s like that, the world is like that.

“So, I always stay positive. I want to make people happy. And especially me on the pitch, having fun. And that’s what I’ve been doing since I came back from injury.”