Mixing sport, music and social media, Pogba’s extraordinary signing for Manchester United is a real game-changer
Pogba entered new territory when he announced his £89million signing in a grime video - but what does it mean for the beautiful game?
IT was the football signing that mixed sport, showbiz, global marketing and social media – and changed the game for ever.
Superstar midfielder Paul Pogba’s record £89million return to Manchester United was announced by a grime MC in an exclusive video rather than an Old Trafford press conference.
Then the official unveiling was timed so his new club could cash in around the world.
The video, produced by sponsors Adidas, dropped on Facebook at 9pm on Monday and featured Pogba dancing with British star Stormzy, who was wearing a United shirt.
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It was swiftly deleted but the cat was out of the bag. One of the world’s most talked-about footballers WAS — as The Sun revealed first — rejoining one of the world’s most talked-about clubs. Now everyone was talking about them both again.
The transfer was confirmed via the club’s official channels by 12.20am yesterday to coincide with the opening of the Asian stock markets — where United thrives — and to ensure Europe would wake up to the news.
Pogba, 23, was even driven to his medical in a Chevrolet Camaro — the US car giant is a club sponsor.
Since then, the France midfielder has posted the Stormzy video to his 2.3million Twitter and seven million Instagram followers, while United have added it to their official homepage.
A picture of Pogba in his United gear reunited with the Old Trafford laundry team was also posted to another user’s Twitter account, three hours BEFORE the video first went up on Facebook.
Pogba’s unveiling, four years after he left the club, has been like no other. And it is a far cry from the days of players signing their contracts sat behind a desk in a wood-panelled room.
But United have always found a special way to announce their new signings.
In 1962, Denis Law’s arrival was marked by manager Matt Busby measuring his new player for his United kit. It prompted the tradition of players posing with their new shirts.
Then when Bryan Robson signed for a British record £1.5million in 1981, he made history as the first footballer to sign his contract on the pitch, surrounded by fans. He used a gold pen belonging to manager Ron Atkinson.
Experts have hailed the strategy for announcing Pogba — who will earn £290,000 a week — to the world as revolutionary and predict his ability to exploit social media and create his own hype could result in record merchandising sales.
Brand guru Steve Martin, global CEO of M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment, explained: “This is the first time a new signing has been revealed in such a creative way, where entertainment and sport have been completely fused.
“It is a very different approach to what we’ve seen before but it just shows how if you are clever you can engage with a global audience at the push of a button.
“Manchester United are entering a new era and trying to get the glamour back. This is the sort of big glamour signing they have been desperate for since manager Sir Alex Ferguson left the club, and the innovative way they have announced it signals the direction they are going.”
The impact will also be felt on the Premier League, which has previously lost superstar players such as Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez to the giants of Europe.
As Match of the Day host Gary Lineker pointed out on Twitter this week, Pogba’s arrival from top Italian club Juventus is the “first time a huge foreign star in his prime has come to England”.
His enormous fee, sealed after months of speculation he was a top target for manager Jose Mourinho, is thought to take into account his extremely lucrative image rights.
Paul McCormick, of marketing agency Pitch, described Pogba as “a marketer’s dream who showcases all that is great about the beautiful game — skill, pace, personality and power”.
And with a prolific social media presence, Pogba is what McCormick calls a “crossover athlete” who can diversify into music and style.
Adidas has so much faith in his bankability that they signed a ten-year deal worth more than £30million with him in March, even though he is still relatively untested on the pitch.
Florian Alt, senior director of global brand communications at Adidas Football, said: “Paul is one of the most in-demand players in the world, creating hype on and off the pitch with his inimitable swagger.”
It is that swagger which is key to his success.
He has had almost as many haircuts as David Beckham — swooshes, animal prints, cartoon characters — and has a signature “dab” celebration after scoring his typically flamboyant goals.
He drives a pink Rolls-Royce and has been romantically linked to the outrageous Cameroon pop star Dencia, who is known for her eccentric outfits and wild hair.
The flashy Frenchman, whose various nicknames include Il Polpo Paul (Paul the Octopus), La Pioche (The Pickaxe) and Pogboom, will also turn up to awards ceremonies in a gold and black tuxedo and happily share photos of himself half-naked or posing with celebs on social media.
On his holiday in Florida last month, he was snapped puffing on a e-cigarette, surrounded by bikini-clad babes.
This bling lifestyle is a world away from the tough Paris suburb where he grew up.
But it was on this estate plagued by drugs and riots that his route to the top was first plotted by his ambitious single mum Yeo.
From a young age she nurtured the footballing aspirations of Pogba and his twin brothers Mathias and Florentin.
A neighbour who lived next door to the family told The Sun: “Yeo wanted the very best for all of them from day one. She absolutely adored her boys and didn’t care who knew it.
Day-to-day life could be a struggle but she knew all the boys were going places.
If anybody did anything to upset them, or hold them back, then Yeo did not care about upsetting anyone or losing money. She just wanted them to be happy.”
As Pogba’s unofficial manager and agent, Yeo has fearlessly battled for her son’s happiness, even when that meant crossing the feared Sir Alex Ferguson.
He brought her son to United as a 16-year-old following a brief spell at French side Le Havre.
Pogba was under the impression he was going to break into the first team as an 18-year-old, but even during an injury crisis Fergie refused to play him. Mum knew it was time to go.
She said recently: “Ferguson punished him, he didn’t play him, Paul was alone. He even cried in Ferguson’s office over the way he was treated.”
With his contract up, Pogba joined Juventus on a free transfer, leaving United out of pocket.
Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola, who also represents United’s new star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is said to be in line for a 20 per cent cut of Pogba’s fee, taking the player’s price to more than £100million.
While United may be wishing they had never let him go, in the four years he spent in Italy Pogba became one of the most-wanted players in Europe, scoring 34 goals in 178 games.
He was named the best young player at the 2014 World Cup and helped his country reach the final of this summer’s Euros, losing 1-0 to Portugal.
He is also a dedicated professional. While he enjoys nightclubs, his favourite drink is water and he is so health-obsessed that he hired his own dietitian aged 16.
Despite the Dencia rumours, he is expected to bring on-off girlfriend Lisa Thiolon, a French business studies student, to the UK.
As a devout Muslim, Pogba is often spotted saying a brief prayer before matches. A family friend said: “His mum never wanted him to forget he was a proud Muslim.”
Pogba will now be praying he can live up to his own hype.
Steve Martin warned: “The big question now is, can he deliver?
“I don’t think we’ve seen yet quite how good he can be on the pitch — but boy, is he good off it."