Manchester United stars Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho among those who loved seeing Paul Pogba finally play for Juventus

Paul Pogba still has friends at Manchester United as he received messages from former teammates after finally making his Juventus debut.

Pogba left Old Trafford last summer on a free transfer to join the Serie A club… for the second time.

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The first time it happened was as a youngster and became one of the world’s best midfielders in Italy.

United decided to pay an eye-watering £89million to bring him back, only for him to walk away for nothing six years later again.

It was no great loss to the Red Devils, though, as he failed to live up to that potential and had well-documented bust-ups such as with manager Jose Mourinho.

Even though he re-joined Juventus last summer, he had to wait until the end of February to make his second debut.

A knee injury kept him on the sidelines for a lengthy period, followed by numerous setbacks, and even ruled him out of the World Cup.

He featured in Juve’s 4-2 derby win over Torino, his first competitive fixture for 315 days.

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Pogba’s last appearance had been Manchester United’s 4-0 defeat to Liverpool in April 2022.

He injured his calf that effectively ended his United career, then had a separate knee problem he picked up in pre-season.

Despite leaving the Manchester club under a cloud, he still clearly has friends there.

The 29-year-old put a post on Instagram that said: “All smiles for tonight, so happy to be back. Thank you for the warm welcome.”

Marcus Rashford replied with a heart emoji, while Jadon Sancho wrote: “My brother, welcome back!”