With Manchester United playing the Manchester derby at the weekend, the midweek Carabao Cup quarter-finals will have to be played by substitutes and new development squad players.

While United's main players don't look down on the Carabao Cup, it's a rare opportunity for the substitutes and new players in the development squad to showcase their quality, and once they perform well and are spotted by the coach, they may have a chance to be mentioned to the first team.

On Tuesday, after afternoon training, Pogba dragged his tired body back to his homestay on his bike.

As soon as Pogba entered the house, the landlord, Eric, said, "Paul, this Mr. Zhang has been looking for you and has been waiting for you here for a long time." ”

Pogba looked at it, there were two Asians sitting in the living room, one was a friend of Manchester United star Gao Xiaodong, it seemed that his name was Zhang Qi, the manager of a brokerage company, and the other was Zhang Qi's French translator, after meeting Zhang Qi at Gao Xiaodong that day, Zhang Qi looked for him twice, and also went to Pogba's home in France, trying to persuade Pogba's mother and grandmother to become Pogba's agent.

Pogba's grandmother and mother are a little hesitant, although there is Gao Xiaodong in Manchester United to help Pogba will develop more smoothly, but Zhang Qi and that Xinglong company are too obscure, just like a leather bag company, it is really a bit risky to let Pogba sign a contract with such a company, so he didn't agree, of course he didn't refuse, and he excused himself that Pogba was not yet 18 years old and couldn't sign a contract with the agency for the time being.

Zhang Qi is also a smart person, knowing that this kind of thing cannot be forced, nor can it be rushed, if it is too hasty, Pogba's family will be more suspicious, now Pogba is only 17 years old, and he is not famous, now is the time to do water grinding kung fu, so he did not entangle again.

Seeing Pogba come back, Zhang Qi said with a smile: "Hello Paul, how is training today?"

Pogba didn't know what Zhang Qi was doing, so he said cautiously: "It's okay, Mr. Zhang." ”

Zhang Qi smiled: "Paul, I'm here to talk to you today, let's go to your room to talk." ”

Coming to Pogba's room, Zhang Qi said: "Paul, do you want to play in the League Cup?"

Isn't this nonsense? Which second-team player doesn't want to play in an important event like the League Cup, Pogba's heart skipped a beat, and he stammered: "Mr. Zhang, you mean I play in the League Cup?"

Zhang Qi looked at Pogba's unbelievable look, smiled slightly, and said: "Of course, recently, Xiao Dong has been praising you in front of Ferguson and Coach Ferran and recommending you, now that the first team is suffering from flu and injuries, and there is a shortage of personnel, the lord may give you a chance to play the League Cup on Thursday." ”

When Pogba heard this, it was like winning the lottery, and he was very surprised, "Allah, is this true? ”

Zhang Qi smiled: "Of course, this is the news I got from Xiaodong, maybe you will be notified tomorrow." ”

Pogba was overjoyed: "Great, great, great, I must seize the opportunity, I must play well." ”

Zhang Qi said: "Paul, this is a good opportunity, but I think you don't want to be desperate, if you want to soar with this game, you should maintain a peaceful mind, don't think about any blockbuster play, as long as you play your own strength, Sir Alex Ferguson will not give you just one chance since he has given you a chance." ”

Zhang Qi has a wide range of knowledge and life experience, he knows what Pogba is thinking now, and the suggestions just now are all insightful, but Pogba's mind is now full of joy to play in the League Cup, don't look at him nodding vigorously, in fact, he didn't listen to what Zhang Qi said.

Zhang Qi didn't say much, now Pogba is not his person, he is just here to sell a good, no matter whether Pogba plays well in the League Cup or worse, it has no impact on Zhang Qi's plan, and after a brief conversation with Pogba for a few minutes, Zhang Qi left with a translator.

After Zhang Qi left, Pogba immediately called his mother and told her the good news that he might have to play in the League Cup.

Pogba's grandmother is a shrewd and capable woman, and quickly asked Pogba about the situation in detail, I heard that Zhang Qi told him, it was the result of Gao Xiaodong's recommendation, Pogba's grandmother sighed, and immediately understood Zhang Qi's intentions, this Chinese still does not plan to give up being his grandson's agent.

Although Pogba's grandmother can't look down on the obscure Xinglong brokerage company, but she can't underestimate Gao Xiaodong's influence in Manchester United, now Gao Xiaodong has been selected for the Golden Ball Award 23 list, and even has the hope of reaching the top three of the Golden Ball Award, in just three months, he has become the core of Manchester United's midfield, Gao Xiaodong wants to cover Pogba, even Ferguson has to give a few thin faces, so that Ferguson's son Jason may not dare to make things difficult for Pogba.

Pogba's grandmother discussed it with Pogba's mother, and felt that if Pogba could successfully ascend to the position with the help of Gao Xiaodong, then it didn't matter if Zhang Qi was used as an agent, anyway, if he didn't sign a long-term contract, he would sign a short-term contract, and if it didn't feel appropriate, it wouldn't be much of a loss.

However, this was discussed privately between Pogba's grandmother and his mother, and did not tell the young Pogba that Pogba's grandmother just asked Pogba to play well and strive to play well in the League Cup.

Pogba didn't ask much, for a 17-year-old young man, play football well, make more money, become more famous, find more women, this is their idea, as for the agent, that is to help them wipe their butts and deal with trivial matters, they can find anyone, and if they are not good, they will be fired, so they don't need to bother more.

On the second day of training, Pogba was brought up to the first team to train with the main players, along with Portuguese striker Bebe.

Seeing Gao Xiaodong, Pogba thanked the Manchester United superstar.

Gao Xiaodong likes Pogba very much, and he was instructed by Zhang Qi to be very affectionate to Pogba and told him a lot of experience in adult competitions.

Although in Vidic's view, Pogba is the younger brother of their mainland gang, and Gao Xiaodong blatantly wooing his younger brother like this makes him a little dissatisfied, but Gao Xiaodong is in the limelight, and Vidic is competing for the captain's position at the critical moment, and he doesn't dare to give Gao Xiaodong a look, so he can only be ready to find a time to remind Pogba that the boss of the Continental European Gang is he Vidic, don't hug the wrong thigh.

In the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Wolves on Thursday afternoon, United fielded an absolute substitute plus youth squad to play, with the 17-year-old Pogba being a first-time senior in the club.

Although the attention of the outside world in this Carabao Cup is very low, the attention of fans and reporters who came is mostly on the tall Pogba, who is known as Vieira's successor, and even the Manchester United coach's bench wants to see how Pogba, who has performed well in the youth team, can adapt to the adult game.

Pogba knew that the outside world was paying attention to him, and after coming on in the second half, he also tried desperately to show himself at both ends of the pitch, hoping to win over the fans and Ferguson with a wonderful performance.

However, the more eager Pogba is to show himself, the more he goes wrong, his play in the game is very inconsistent, there are brilliant individual performances, there are also bad mistakes, the most unacceptable is that in the second half around 70 minutes, Pogba actually went off the field because of a needless tackle to accumulate two yellow cards, and his senior team debut was ruined.

With Manchester United playing one man less, the game against Wolves was thrilling, and the game was chased to 2:2 at one point, and finally it was O'Shea's header that defeated Wolves and reached the last eight of the League Cup.

After the game, Pogba was fiercely criticized by reporters and fans, who thought that Pogba was too immature and did not have enough ball quotient, and was still suitable for training in the second team, rather than pulling out seedlings to help him.

Pogba was also very ashamed, when he went to find Gao Xiaodong at night, he actually hugged Gao Xiaodong and cried, thinking that he had lived up to Gao Xiaodong's expectations and embarrassed Gao Xiaodong, but Gao Xiaodong said that he played well, but he lacked some experience and was too excited, let him go back to train hard, and there will definitely be opportunities in the future.

Pogba is simply grateful to Gao Xiaodong, he feels that Gao Xiaodong takes such good care of him now, if he really finds Gao Xiaodong's friend Zhang Qi as an agent, Gao Xiaodong will definitely take more care of him, and he will definitely get more opportunities, so he made up his mind and joined Zhang Qi's agency when he is 18 years old.