Paul Pogba is likely facing a four-year suspension from the game after a failed drug test virtually extinguished any hope of a resurgence of his career.
It is easy to forget Pogba despite his career going the furthest south from the tracks many once touted he would follow.
Juventus’s fallen star is still a two-time winner of the Italian League, a Champions League finalist, and a World Cup winner with France along with multiple individual accolades along the way.
When he joined Manchester United in the summer of 2016, for a club-record transfer fee of eighty-nine million pounds, fans of Stratford End witnessed the transfer as a homecoming of their own who should have never left the club.
Pogba was dancing with the world and the ball in his feet and his performances for the golden generation of France’s national team were magnificent.
He was the beating heart of both sides. Jude Bellingham at the time was plying his trade at his hometown club Birmingham.
A few years down the line people laughed when the bosses of Birmingham decided to retire Jude’s shirt following his departure to Dortmund.
There are many similarities in that sense if the initial years of both Bellingham and Pogba are considered.
Bellingham too has secured a similar to Pogba a transfer fee of eighty-eight million pounds for Dortmund in his transfer to Real Madrid. At twenty both of them had promises of a career future generations would hear stories about.
While Pogba may not kick a ball again, Bellingham at twenty has scored five goals and managed even an assist in his opening four league games at Real Madrid.
Pogba was posting similar numbers while playing for Juventus at the age Bellingham is now.
So who was better at twenty? There is a certain always ever-present thought process, Pogba might have had a very different career had he not made that move to Manchester United.
All his frailties are often put down to the wretched decision of going back to Manchester United, but a thought process in this manner stands being danger of really skewing perspective.
While the Frenchman was struggling in England he was simply producing ravishing performances for his national side, and that has always been the case with Pogba.
A plethora of managers at Manchester United including the likes of Mourinho had tried to build the squad around him and somehow this has always come up short of the expectations.
When Pogba was flourishing at Juventus he had a certain Marchisio and Khedira manning the gates of midfield allowing Pogba to be himself.
He did not have the pressure to be the focal point of the team, others would do that job, while Pogba could produce all the skills and trickeries and be the creative flair.
To reach the standards Pogba has, every player he is playing with or against is exceptionally talented but to be the generational talent he was viewed as, there is the difference of mentality that makes those players, like the likes of Zidane stand apart.
While United was struggling in games, Pogba was often seen throwing the towel in himself, he did not or was not interested in bettering the team’s performance by mirroring his performance as an individual.
He can always be the flamboyant superstar but lacked the leadership qualities that coaches at Manchester United were desperately seeking of his time and again.
These qualities are essentially necessary to be the main talisman playing for any team not blessed with a bundle of superstar players. One can note the same difference between Neymar and Messi, probably.
This is where Jude is better than Pogba at twenty years of age. Before Real Madrid came alone, Bellingham played for Birmingham and Dortmund, two teams that are anything but comprising of squads of mega global stars.
His performances at Birmingham, right from the youth setup, propelled Dortmund to bring him into their squad.
He was already exploring an unusual move for an English player at teenage.
While being in Dortmund he almost won them the league last campaign in an exceptional season only falling short in a last-day miraculous heartbreak with Bellingham injured watching from the sidelines.
When he is playing for England he is mostly playing with Henderson alongside the former Scouse captain is not a global star when compared with the personnel Pogba had at France.
Bellingham thrived playing for teams being the leader in the midfield, bettering their performances without many other exceptional players alongside.
Pogba’s failings started when he was put out from those superstar surroundings of players having his back.