“Cristiano Ronaldo was there for me.
He reached out when a lot of people stayed silent.
He didn’t just help with money — he gave me real support, real words that touched my heart.
— He told me, ‘I know you’re a good man. Take heart. Everything will be okay — it’s just a matter of time.’
In that moment, I really needed to hear that. It gave me hope.”
It all started when Pogba tested positive for DHEA in February 2024 — a substance that increases testosterone.
Because of that, he was banned from football for four years.
— “I felt like everything I had worked for was gone in a second.
I thought about quitting. I felt like a failure.
What hurt the most was watching people I trusted slowly disappear —
they stopped picking my calls, acted like I didn’t exist.
That broke my heart.
But then there was Cristiano. There was Deschamps. Drogba. Zlatan. They all checked on me, gave me strength, and reminded me that I’m not alone.
They checked on me, gave me strength, reminded me I wasn’t alone.
In the middle of all the pain, they helped me stand back up.
I’ll never forget that.” ️
— Paul Pogba Reminiscing on his dark days off the pitch