Bros battle

Who is Florentin Pogba? St Etienne defender who is brother of Manchester United star Paul

The 26-year-old is a fully fledged Guinea international, and will share a pitch with his younger sibling in the Europa League again

PAUL POGBA shared a pitch with one of his footballing brother's for the first time in his career last week - St-Etienne's Florentin.

The 26-year-old Guinea international Florentin was on the losing side, however, with United sauntering to a 3-0 first leg triumph in their Europa League round-of-32 tie.

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Florentin in training as he prepares to face his brother Paul on Thursday nightCredit: PA:Press Association
He bares a striking resemblance to his younger brother who re-joined the Red Devils in the summerCredit: Reuters

Here's all you need to know about the defender...


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What's his background?

Despite Paul being a fully fledged French international, Florentin Pogba has 12 caps for West African country Guinea.

Born in the nation's capital Conakry, he moved to France with his family when he was only eight months old.

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He has a twin brother Mathias who currently plays for Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam, where he spent the majority of his career playing in the UK with Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra, Crawley Town and Partick Thistle.

Florentin made his Guinea debut back in 2010 in a friendly match against Mali, but a year later made three French Under-20 appearances before finally committing to his birth country.

It will be the first time Paul has faced either one of his brothers on the football pitchCredit: Getty Images

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He has amassed 12 caps for Guinea despite being raised in FranceCredit: Getty Images
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Who has he played for?

Florentin has spent the entirety of his professional career in France, however he began his first steps as a footballer in Spain in the youth ranks of Celta Vigo.

He signed for the La Liga side in 2007 and spent two seasons in their youth set-up before moving to then Ligue 2 side Sedan.

After a year playing in the reserves he was handed his first professional contract and made his debut in November 2010.

In 2012 he was sold to St Etienne where he was immediately loaned back to Sedan for the season, but since returning to the Greens he has established himself as the first choice centre-half.

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Pogba has impressed this season in Ligue 1 his club sit fifth in the tableCredit: Getty Images

Has he ever been close to moving to England?

In June 2015 French sports newspaper L'Equipe revealed Aston Villa were keen on bringing him to the Premier League.

And this summer David Moyes wanted to recruit him for his struggling Sunderland side but the move failed to materialise.

Florentin said of the offer: "There were contacts but nothing concrete."

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He also recently revealed that he supports Arsene Wenger's Arsenal after they excelled in the 2003/04 campaign.

How has he performed this season?

The 26-year-old has hugely impressed this campaign playing under manager Christophe Galtier.

His side sit fifth in the table, just a point behind fourth-placed Lyon.

In 19 games in all competitions so far, he has scored once, only has a single caution to his name and has been awarded man of the match twice.

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