Paul Pogba’s brother in police custody in alleged extortion case

Mathias Pogba accused of demanding 13 million euros from Juventus midfielder in plot with childhood friends

The brother of former Manchester United star Paul Pogba is in police custody over claims he was part of a gang who tried to extort millions from the footballer.

Mathias Pogba has been detained along with three other people on suspicion of gang-based extortion and participation in a criminal association, a judicial source said.

Mathias was held for questioning after visiting a Paris police station about the probe on Wednesday afternoon, according to an official close to the investigation.

He has denied taking part in extortion attempts against his brother.

Four other people who appeared along with Mathias before a judge on Saturday were also put under formal investigation, with three ordered to be detained.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba (centre) with his brothers Florentin Pogba (left) and Mathias Pogba (right) (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)

Mathias’s lawyer Richard Arbib said in a statement last week that his client wanted “more than anything else” to ease the situation with his brother.

The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation last month into allegations that Paul Pogba - who scored one of France’s goals in the 2018 World Cup final - was the target of an extortion plot by his brother and childhood friends demanding 13 million euros (£11.4m) from him.

The Juventus midfielder told the Paris prosecution office that he had been the target of extortion by childhood friends since March and had paid 100,000 euros to that group in the spring, judicial sources told Reuters this month.

The case became public after the footballer’s brother threatened to share “explosive revelations” about him and France star Kylian Mbappe.

Mathias had a modest football career as a forward with lower-tier teams in England and other European countries.

Additional reporting by agencies