Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba reportedly considered quitting football when he was threatened by an armed gang earlier this year.
The France international, formerly of Manchester United, was allegedly threatened with blackmail by an armed gang, who demanded €13million from the player, according to Le Journal du Dimanche.
Pogba supposedly told friends he wanted to disappear and that he didn’t want to play football anymore, with the incident clearly highly traumatic for the 29-year-old.
“He had a hard time speaking, then he told me that he and my little brother had been robbed by hooded guys with weapons,” Pogba’s friend Boubacar Camara explained.
“Paul said to me… ‘I don’t want to play football anymore, I want to disappear.’ Paul was crying, I told him to calm down… He was afraid for his children, his wife, his family.”
It seems Pogba is no longer looking ready to retire, but it’s sad to think that he was in such a bad frame of mind that he didn’t want to continue playing.
It’s easy to forget that footballers are human too, and that being in the spotlight can sometimes put them in dangerous situations.
Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was also notably burgled in the summer, picking up an injury to his jaw in the process.