Graeme Souness has branded Paul Pogba ‘a lazy t**t’ when speaking about the Juventus midfielder on a podcast in Ireland.
Souness is known for not being afraid to criticise players when he feels they deserve it and he has spoken out against the banned midfielder having originally questioned the size of his £89million price tag when he joined Manchester United in 2016.
Pogba has been provisionally suspended from football after testing positive for testosterone in a recent doping test, believed to be after his club’s Serie A fixture against Udinese on August 20, a game in which he did not play.
Souness was appearing at a Second Captains podcast live event in Dublin as he criticised Pogba, praising him abilities before questioning his attitude.
The pundit criticised Pogba’s work ethic in both training and matches, before doubling down on his criticism when asked about it on the podcast.
Graeme Souness (pictured) branded Paul Pogba ‘a lazy t**t’ when discussing the midfielder on a recent podcast
Pogba has been provisionally suspended football after testing positive for testosterone in a recent doping test
Souness criticised Pogba’s attitude and questioned his penalty tactic, which sees him run up to the ball slowly
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‘He’s an extremely talented young man,’ Souness said. ‘He should be one of the best midfielders in the world. But he’s lazy.
‘If you remember how he used to take penalties (with a stuttered run-up). That was him wanting to be the star of the show for that period of time.
‘If he’s lazy in matches he’ll be lazy in training and how can you get after the rest of them if you don’t get after him?’
When Souness was asked whether he felt his sometimes perceived unfair criticism of the 30-year-old is unfair, he replies: ‘Not for a nanosecond, no, he’s a lazy t**t.’
The Scot’s criticism of Pogba seemed to begin when he joined United seven years ago, when he suggested ‘the price isn’t right’ with Pogba returning to the club after four years away playing for Juventus.
In Pogba’s season back in England, Souness questioned if he had ‘a football brain’, before going onto question his commitment to the football when he left United for a second time last year.
Souness left Sky last season after 15 years with the broadcaster but continues to work in the football media
He had been known to be critical of the Frenchman during his second stint at Manchester United between 2016 and 2022
Pogba himself was asked about Souness and his perceived criticism, to which he insisted he wasn’t sure who he was.
‘I didn’t even know who he was, really, I heard he was a great player and stuff like that,’ the former World Cup winner said.
‘I know the face but (not) the name. Like I said, I’m not someone that watches a lot of (punditry). I watch a lot of football but I don’t stay after the game to listen to what they say about why they did this or why they did that. I like to focus on football.’
Souness left Sky as a pundit after 15 years with the broadcaster at the end of last season, but still works as a pundit for other broadcasters and is a columnist for Mail Sport.
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