Monday 20 February 2017 14:51, UK
Paul Pogba faces Southampton once again on Sunday in the EFL Cup final, having made his second Manchester United debut against the Saints back in August. How has he fared since?
The pressure was on. After all the social media hype and with the Pogba branding emblazoned on as much club merchandise as possible, it was time for the returning hero to do his talking on the pitch.
Southampton at home represented a less than daunting start to life back in Manchester for Pogba, but the 23-year-old looked anything but the world's most expensive footballer when he miscontrolled in the first minute, allowing Saints to break. Fortunately for the France international, it came to nothing.
Several wayward passes followed, but, after that nervous start, Pogba began to settle into his role and became central to United's play in the 2-0 win. He had a colossal 107 touches in the game, 34 more than anyone else on the pitch.
Playing from deep, Pogba regained possession more times than any other player, while still finding the energy to burst forward. He finished the match having had four shots at goal - two more than any team-mate. United fans' appetites had been whetted.
However, with Jose Mourinho sticking with a 4-2-3-1 system, Pogba became more subdued after his impressive second bow, as teams realised that pressuring him deep, not allowing him as much of the ball as he'd enjoyed against Southampton, could limit his influence.
Against Manchester City in September, Pogba was distinctly out of sorts, and often neglected his defensive duties, clearly frustrated at having to play in such a defensive role. Only Wayne Rooney gave the ball away more as the Frenchman looked overrun by United's rampant neighbours in the 2-1 loss.
Pogba made no secret of where he wanted to play in an interview with Sky Sports' Thierry Henry prior to the Manchester derby. "I would say midfielder on the left [is my best position]," Pogba said. "If you play a three I can play on the right of left, but I feel more comfortable to play on my left. "
Mourinho failed to take heed of the thinly-veiled suggestion from Pogba and even a first goal back in red against Leicester failed to galvanise the midfielder, as United went five league games without a win, denting any early hopes of a title tilt.
The 4-2-3-1 formation just wasn't bearing fruit. The solution was to turn to the trusted Michael Carrick, who was more than happy to sit in front of the back four, allowing Pogba to venture further forward on his preferred left side.
Carrick has been a regular fixture in the United side since the EFL Cup win over rivals City, deployed with Ander Herrera and Pogba in the main, with the triumvirate complementing each other well.
Pogba's effectiveness has increased markedly as a result. Arguably his best performance so far was at Crystal Palace in a 2-1 win. With Herrera tenaciously working away on one side, next to the calming influence of Carrick, Pogba scored one and laid on the winner for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
In contrast to his second debut against Southampton, when Pogba popped up all over the pitch, he was able to play much higher up the field against Palace, and predominantly on his preferred left-hand side.
"He's doing well, he's doing more than well," Mourinho told French TV station SFR in late December. "His evolution is clear. So I can imagine that next season for Paul will be top."
The winner against Middlesbrough followed on New Year's Eve and, statistically, Pogba has continued to look the part since then.
In the Premier League, only Liverpool's Jordan Henderson has made more passes, while only team-mate Ibrahimovic has had more shots.
However, just three league goals from 3.4 shots per game is not the return fans demand.
Having hit the woodwork eight times in all competitions, you can put such profligacy down to bad luck, but some of those chances, like the header from point-blank range against St Etienne last Thursday, should have comfortably been put away.
Worryingly, of the players who have scored more than three league goals, Pogba ranks last in the shot conversion rate table, scoring just four goals from 81 efforts.
Pogba has to start finding the net more often sooner rather than later - and a player who is no stranger to the limelight would love nothing more than to do so at Wembley.
