According to Rio Ferdinand, former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes used to go hard on a young Paul Pogba during training to toughen him up and build character. Pogba came through the United academy and started training with the first team in early 2011. Despite being part of a squad that included senior players such as Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Edwin van der Sar, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Nemanja Vidic, it was Scholes who took his role seriously in roughening up his fellow central midfielder and getting him ready for the rigours of professional football.
Ferdinand revealed that managers like to see young players get kicked about when they first join the team. Pogba was a young, super-gifted player, and Scholes used to launch him during training. Ferdinand said that Scholes would kick through Pogba, who was big and strong with great footwork, and Pogba would lay on the floor wondering what was going on. However, Ferdinand added that this was part of character building, and they just kept on playing.
Pogba made his Red Devils debut in September 2011 and made a further six appearances that season before leaving for Juventus on a free transfer as United were pipped by Manchester City to the Premier League title. His four successful seasons with Juve prompted a world-record £89million return to Old Trafford, but he underdelivered across six years before rejoining the Old Lady in Italy due to injury.
Scholes spoke about Pogba last year before his return to Juventus, saying that he was there when Pogba was a kid, and he had everything one would want in a footballer and a midfield player. He had the physique and could run, but he never seemed to learn as a footballer, constantly making the same mistakes over and over again. Scholes expressed disappointment that it didn’t work out for Pogba at Man United, but he acknowledged what Pogba does with France.
In conclusion, Paul Scholes used to launch through a young Paul Pogba during training to build character and toughen him up. Despite being part of a squad that included senior players, Scholes took his role seriously in getting Pogba ready for the rigours of professional football. Pogba made his Red Devils debut in September 2011 and made a further six appearances that season before leaving for Juventus on a free transfer. He returned to Old Trafford for a world-record £89million but underdelivered across six years before rejoining Juventus due to injury.