Ex-Man United player Paul Pogba accuses own brother of extortion in £11m blackmail plot

French footballer Paul Pogba, 29, is in the middle of an £11million blackmail plot which he claims is being spearheaded by his very own brother and a group of their childhood friends.

The situation was made public by Paul's older brother himself, Mathias Pogba, 32, who took to social media platform TikTok to share a statement translated in several languages. In it, he said, "The French, English, Italian and Spanish public, in other words, the whole world, as well as my brother's fans, and even more so the French team and Juventus, my brother's team-mates and his sponsors deserve to know certain things...If he deserves his place in the French team and the honour of playing in the World Cup. If he deserves to be a starter at Juventus."

Then, Mathias said that he knew damning facts about Pogba's character along with threats to reveal such information.

According to Football Espana, Paul and his mother, along with his lawyer and agent, Rafaela Pimenta, were already well aware of this plot long before it was made public. They had already been seeking the help of law enforcement in order to put an end to the extortion.

According to The Sun, Paul told the police about how he was lured into an apartment in his hometown in the Paris suburb of Lagny-sur-Marne. While there, his childhood friends along with two "hooded men armed with assault rifles" demanded £11million (€13million). They accused the World Cup winner of not helping them financially since making it big as a professional footballer, and are now demanding compensation in exchange of "discreetly" protecting him for the past 13 years.

The former Manchester United forward joined Juventus FC this summer, but has unfortunately revealed that this "gang" has been following him wherever his career has taken him. He has told French law enforcement that he has seen his blackmailers as recently as April while he was still in Manchester, and again in July when he was already in Turin.

Paul also told police about the constant financial help that had been extending to the accused friends. However, he said that this stopped in January when he found out that one of his "friends" stole £170,000 (€200,000) using his credit card. He then kicked the friend out of his Manchester home, which may have led to a chain reaction of events that has now resulted in this extortion plot.

Mathias Pogba has also claimed that he has "explosive information" about PSG star Kylian Mbappe, who also plays for the French national team.

In a statement shared to French media, Paul's camp said: "Mathias Pogba's recent statements on social networks are unfortunately not a surprise. They are in addition to threats and organised extortion attempts by an organised gang against Paul Pogba."

They assured that French and Italian authorities are on top of the matter for at least a month now and that the investigation is currently ongoing.