Slowly appearing to find his feet at Manchester United following his huge summer transfer, few will disagree that Paul Pogba’s game against Everton wasn’t his best.
Always expected to make the difference due to the fee paid by José Mourinho’s side, the midfielder has constantly been placed under huge pressure by the media and fans alike, perhaps unfairly at times.
Explaining a few times that his dream would be to win the Ballon d’Or, the 23-year-old is in the final shortlist for this year’s award but is far from being a favourite, and will need to have a huge 2017 in order to compete with the constant favourites for the award.
However, there is one man who believes the Manchester United star will never win the award, not for his lack of ability, but because of where he plays on the pitch, and that is Didier Deschamps, his national team manager.
Speaking to Christophe Dugarry on RMC Sport in France, the France manager explained: “The Ballon d’Or is for forwards. They’ve always given it to strikers or number 10s, unless a midfielder or a defender has had an unbelievable tournament.
“Pogba is a midfielder. He doesn’t play in the right spot to win the Ballon d’Or. He’s never going to score three goals a game.”
The last time a forward or an attacking midfielder failed to pick up the award was in 2006, when Fabio Cannavaro was voted winner after leading Italy to a World Cup victory against France, with Gianluigi Buffon coming second.
Kaká won the following one, and from 2008 onwards, it’s just been a rather dull battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
With time clearly on his side, Pogba still has a chance, but it’ll take a huge effort to dethrone the two regulars over the next couple of years, before then having to fend off the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Neymar further down the line.
