Witch doctor denies Paul Pogba asked him to curse Kylian Mbappe

The witch doctor accused of helping Paul Pogba to put a curse on Kylian Mbappe has denied that it happened, revealing he's only once spoken to the midfielder about his teammate.

Pogba hasn't played a single minute of competitive football since coming off 10 minutes into a 4-0 loss for Manchester United against Liverpool.

Since then he's left the Old Trafford side for a second time to once again join Juventus for free, as he did in 2012, with his contract having come to an end.

Injuries have meant that the French midfielder has missed out on all of Juve's games this season and a crack at helping his national team win back-to-back World Cups, something his own manager blamed him for.

All of that doesn't mean that Pogba has managed to avoid the headlines, and it's not even because Graeme Souness is blaming him for all the world's ills.

It's all been to do with his older brother Mathias, who has previously played for Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra, Crawley Town, and many others.

The 32-year-old has been detained by police in connection with a plot to extort money from his younger brother, and it's gone along with some incredible claims.

Amongst Mathias' claims was the accusation that the World Cup winner had hired a witch doctor and had got said doctor to bring the butterflies that famously crowded the Stade de France during the Euro 2016 final.

He also claimed that the 29-year-old had also cursed France teammate Mbappe, but now the man involved, identified as Birame D has refuted that.

"This whole story of witchcraft is just a pure invention," Birame told La Parisien.

"Paul never asked me to cast a spell on Kylian Mbappe, neither for this PSG vs Manchester United match nor for any other occasion.

"The one and only time we spoke about Kylian was during a phone conversation during the 2018 World Cup.

"After the match against Argentina I said to Paul, ‘It’s crazy how fast the little one is.'

"Paul answered me with these words, 'Kylian, it is a gift from God to have him with us, he relieves us so much, he does us so much good.'"

Pogba didn't hire someone to curse his France teammate. Image: Alamy

Birame revealed the true nature of the relationship he has with the Juve star is their shared belief in the Muslim religion, with the Senegalese 'witch doctor' adding, "With Paul, we talked about the Quran, the prayers that we must perform every day and spiritual subjects.

"I was able to make him aware of the fact that we are only passing through this planet and that the material goods accumulated during our existence will have no importance after our death.

"The only thing that will remain of us will be all the good things done to the people around us and to the needy."

England fans may with there was a curse on Mbappe, with the Three Lions facing France in the World Cup quarter final on Saturday.

However, Gareth Southgate's side clearly don't think they need that, as they've got plans to deal with the PSG forward.