'Disgusting. Stop these pathetic trolls!' Man United & Maguire condemn racist abuse of Paul Pogba

Manchester United have released a statement condemning as "disgusting" the racist abuse suffered by French midfielder Paul Pogba after he missed a crucial penalty away at Wolves on Monday, backed up by star defender Harry Maguire.

With the score tied at 1-1 at Molineux on Monday, Pogba was fouled when breaking into the box by Wolves captain Conor Coady and took the resulting spot kick, but his effort was saved by keeper Rui Patricio. 

Should Pogba have scored, United would have been given a vital Premier League away win and three points, but the score stayed the same after goals from Anthony Martial to the open the scoring and a screamer from Ruben Neves to equalize.

AFP / PAUL ELLIS

Pogba was subsequently targeted by a torrent of abuse on social media, as some were furious he had relieved striker Marcus Rashford of penalty taking duties, which United released a statement on Tuesday to condemn.

"Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse aimed at Paul Pogba last night and we utterly condemn it," a United statement read, the Manchester Evening News reported.

"The individuals who expressed these views do not represent the values of our great club and it is encouraging to see the vast majority of our fans condemn this on social media also.

"Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our #AllRedAllEqual initiative.

"We will work to identify the few involved in these incidents and take the strongest course of action available to us. We also encourage social media companies to take action in these cases."

Harry Maguire, who became the world's most expensive defender when he joined United this summer, is one of Pogba's teammates to have since taken to Twitter to echo the words of the club.

"Disgusting. Social media need to do something about it," the England international wrote. "Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people."

Rashford also responded to the abuse, tweeting: "Enough now, this needs to stop... Manchester United is a family. Paul Pogba is a huge part of that family. You attack him you attack us all."