“What you see from the outside is that athletes earn a lot and that they’re famous and recognised all over the world, but what you usually don’t see is the work that they put in off the pitch, and that’s the most important aspect to me,” he tells us over Zoom. “You don’t see their family problems or their everyday problems either. Yet they still manage to be on the pitch, to perform well and to be the best; they manage to keep working and be the best for another two, three, even ten years, or throughout a whole career. That’s what mental strength is and that’s what all sportspeople can draw inspiration from.”

Pogba expands on his admiration for the man who became an NFL champion again last season, aged 43. “Tom Brady was just an example to really show people that, despite his age, he was still up to the challenge. He changed franchises but still won, which means that it’s possible to do so. I wanted to show people that you could still succeed after changing clubs. He never gives up.”

To stave off the setting sun during the Indian summer of his career, Brady has had to call on some considerable mental strength – and Pogba was doing the same at the dawn of his. An ambitious and feverishly sought-after teenage talent at Le Havre, he left the familiar cocoon of France for northwest England and the unforgiving environment of Manchester United. With first-team opportunities limited and his patience wearing thin, he took another leap of faith in his own abilities and joined Juventus aged 19, defying the wishes of United’s iconic boss, Sir Alex Ferguson. Consider what  sort of confidence that requires…

Pogba’s boldness paid dividends in the form of four Serie A titles – and that signature courage underpinned his return to United in 2016. He finished the following campaign with the Europa League trophy in his hand, a feat he came within a penalty kick of emulating in May. For an established senior international and one of the game’s biggest and best talents, it was not a question of coming full circle but, rather, of making the next move up.

Although a self-confessed fan of another American sporting great in the form of NBA icon Michael Jordan, Pogba’s United comeback was anything but the last dance. In fact he was only getting warmed up, with no intention of tweaking the single-minded modus operandi that had taken him that far.

“I think that most of us already know [Jordan’s] story, and his leadership and work ethic really have been an inspiration to me. You have to be at least a little bit selfish and think of yourself in order to be the best. That means that after a training session, if your friends call you to go out you need to think of yourself, refuse and go and train more instead.

“You want to take the last shots, like [Jordan] did, and you always want to win. That requires extraordinary mental strength. Muhammad Ali is also an inspiration for me. In his day he was one of the youngest heavyweights – just like Mike Tyson after him – to be crowned world champion. All of those people are inspirations because of their daily work ethic. They push themselves. They might fall or lose but they keep going, they come back stronger and they never give up. That’s important to me.”

Pogba is 28 now and wants to serve as an example to follow in the United dressing room. “You can be a leader both on and off the pitch; you can speak with the young players and the whole squad, and you can motivate them too. Motivating my team-mates motivates me in return. Whenever I see a team-mate of mine always training and working hard, that pushes me to train and reach my limits. That’s how you develop, as we want to win trophies together and you need everyone to be involved if you want to succeed. You can’t win alone.

Further individual initiatives have followed, with the United midfielder using the occasion of his birthday to back a charity. After his 26th birthday was dedicated to a project called Charity: Water, he pledged financial support to UNICEF to help children affected by the Covid-19 pandemic when he turned 27.

Seed – a charity seeking to provide clean water access in poverty-riven Niger – was the beneficiary on Pogba’s 28th. That west Africa’s largest country came to Pogba’s attention is no surprise given he is the very first member of the family, who hail from Guinea, to be born in Europe. “Here’s how I see things: I’ve been lucky enough to earn money and fame and to be a role model to so many people, so I just want to be able to put a smile on those children’s faces, on those people’s faces, but also to inspire them.

“It’s a pleasure for me. I really love doing it. I hope that it helps these children, that it’ll keep on helping them and that it’ll boost them in their future, because we’re lucky enough to have everything here.”

Pogba also took part in UEFA’s Sign for an Equal Game campaign this summer, urging fans to join the fight against discrimination. “I’m lucky to have so many things here in Europe, where I grew up. I have so much but in Africa, in Asia and all over the world, there are people in need. So, for me, helping them is normal because I think that my role is also to help people who are in need.”

Smiles feature heavily in Pogba’s life, to the point that there’s rarely an occasion when there isn’t one on his face. His joie de vivre spills over into his game regardless of the pressures of his profession and the stakes at play. However, that should never be mistaken for a carefree attitude to his job. “That’s actually something natural. I’m someone who likes to laugh and to be joyful. I’ve always been positive, as I grew up in a positive family, and that comes across a lot both on and off the pitch. Football is first and foremost a sport that I love. I loved it then and I love it now.

“I had dreams which came true and those dreams became my job, so the love that I have for football will always be there. Whether I’m old, on TV or whatever, I won’t change my habits or the way that I am. You’ll always get to see the same person, the same Paul Pogba, be it on camera or not.”

He’s also happy to get another member of his family on film, and embarrass her into the bargain: mum Yeo. She appeared on social media when she joined the ranks of those professional opponents who have suffered the ignominy of a Pogba nutmeg.

“That’s something that also started in the suburbs. Unfortunately for my mum, I had to do it. She opened her legs and I nutmegged her. That’s the kind of relationship we have. We like kidding around and laughing at each other, and that’s what I did. As we say, ‘Teasing is loving.’ I tease my mother quite a lot.”