Photograph: Kind courtesy ATK Mohun Bagan/Twitter
Indian Super League heavyweights ATK Mohun Bagan on Saturday signed centre-back Florentin Pogba, the elder brother of 2018 World Cup-winning French midfielder Paul.
“It feels exciting to have joined a club as big as ATK Mohun Bagan. It makes me very proud. This legacy of the club is its jersey — I’m looking forward to the day I turn up in gree-and-maroon,” the 31-year-old said in an ATKMB statement.
“This is a new challenge for me. It will give me a chance to know the country, new championships and many clubs. It’s huge to me,” he added.
The Mariners already have Australian A-League star defender Brendan Hamill on board and with the latest acquisition, it will bolster their defence ahead of their AFC Cup inter-zonal semifinal in September.
The Juan Ferrando-coached side struggled in their defensive department last season with injury woes to Spanish centre back Tiri and India star Sandesh Jhingan.
The Spaniard is on his way out, while there’s an uncertainty about Jhingan’s future at ATKMB for the upcoming season.
Hailing Florentin as a goalsetter, Ferrando said: “He is a goal-setting footballer. Who always wants to give the best and tries to prove himself by coming out of the comfort zone.”
“He can create an attack from the defense. and give the forwards good passes to score goals.”
Florentin last played for French Ligue 2 club FC Sochaux-Montbeliard where he still had one-year left in the contract.
Having joined in 2020, he played two seasons with the Sochaux jersey, playing 62 Ligue 2 matches.
Unlike Paul Pogba, who plays for France, Florentin represents Guinea and has 30 caps for the national side since making his debut as a 19-year-old in 2010.
Born in Guniea, Florentin was brought up in France and began his professional career in 2010 with CS Sedan where he played 45 matches across two seasons.
He then moved to AS Saint-Etienne in 2012 before making his Ligue 1 debut the next year.
He then went to the Turkish side Gençlerbirligi SK, followed by Atlanta United in Major League Soccer where he won the US Open Cup and Campeones Cup.
“I wish you all the best at your new club ATK Mohun Bagan FC,” Paul Pogba wrote on his Instagram story.
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