Paul Pogba retires from France after President Emmanuel Macron racist comments - report

It has been suggested in Middle Eastern media that Pogba came to the decision after comments made by Macron on Friday as well as the government's honouring of a teacher who mocked the prophet Muhammad.

The dramatic turn of events for the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner comes after the beheading of a school teacher Samuel Paty, which Macron described as an 'Islamic terrorist attack'.

Scroll through the gallery to see the 10 footballers who rejected Africa for Europe.

1. Bosingwa (DR Congo for Portugal)

2. Patrice Evra (Senegal for France)

3. N'Golo Kante (Mali for France)

4. Patrick Vieira (Senegal and Cape Verde for France)

5. Christian Benteke (DR Congo for Belgium)

7. Aaron Wan Bissaka (DR Congo for England)

8. Munir El Haddadi (Morocco for Spain)

10. Bouna Sarr (Senegal for France)

9. Gerald Asamoah (Ghana for Germany)

6. Panagiotis Retsos (South Africa for Greece)

Macron also added: "Unity and firmness are the only answers to the monstrosity of Islamist terrorism."

It's claimed that as a French Muslim, Pogba was highly offended by the comments made in the media and has now opted to step down from representing Les Blues.

However, after no official comment from the France Football Federation (FFF), Pogba took to social media to dispel the rumours.

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