Current Reds' footballing brothers

Florentin has officially joined the MLS champions this week after there was much speculation that Romelu Lukaku's brother Jordan was signing for Newcastle United during the transfer window.

While there is a long history of brothers representing the Reds, such as Brian and Jimmy Greenhoff and Gary and Phil Neville, we are focusing on current members of the first-team squad and their sporty siblings.

PAUL, FLORENTIN AND MATHIAS POGBA

Our World Cup-winning midfielder has two brothers in the professional game. Florentin played against Paul in the Europa League ties with Saint-Etienne in 2017. The powerful 28-year-old joined Elche on trial last month after previously being with Genclerbirligi in Turkey, but has ended up moving Stateside. Meanwhile, Florentin’s twin, Mathias, is currently with Tours in France. The centre-forward has been on the books of Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Crawley Town.

ANTONIO AND EDER VALENCIA

Not to be confused with former West Ham man Enner Valencia, who is not related to our club captain, Eder is Antonio’s older brother. The midfielder was most recently with Manta in Ecuador but has a CV that boasts clubs like El Nacional and Universidad Catolica. When we asked our right-back who was the biggest influence on his career, he replied his father and his brother.

ROMELU AND JORDAN LUKAKU

While the United striker is chiefly concerned with scoring goals, his younger brother Jordan plays in defence. The left-back, like Romelu, came through the ranks at Anderlecht but really made his name with Oostende. A move to Lazio was secured in 2016 and he was part of Belgium’s squad for Euro 2016. The two would play football together and work hard on their education as well. “I used to run to school with my brother Jordan,” recalled the United marksman. “It was two or three miles there and back. We’d do it every day.” Jordan had looked set to become the second Lukaku in the Premier League, only for the deal with Newcastle to fall through.

ANTHONY AND JOHAN MARTIAL

Our exciting wide man’s elder brother Johan is a former France Under-19 international, who spent some of his youth career with United’s Champions League opponents Paris Saint-Germain. A quick centre-back, he has represented Bastia, Brest and Troyes in Ligue 1. Currently with Israeli outfit Maccabi Petah Tivka, the Martinique international has made nine appearances this term. Cousin Alexis Martial is a teenage defender on the books of Lyon. “One of my brothers went off to play for PSG quite early on, when he was young, which also gave me the desire to follow in his footsteps,” Anthony told us.

NEMANJA AND UROS MATIC

United’s cultured midfield pivot is not the only footballer in the family. Uros, 28, is Nemanja’s younger brother and they were together at Benfica. Now with FC Copenhagen in Denmark, although he had a loan spell with Austria Vienna last year, he has played for Serbia’s younger age teams but is also eligible to represent Macedonia. “We haven’t played against each other, although we did play together for Serbia’s Under-21 national team against Denmark,” Nemanja told Inside United. "He is a similar style to me. He also plays in midfield and is left footed." 

ASHLEY AND LEWIS YOUNG

Crawley Town defender Lewis started out with Watford, where Ash exploded onto the scene as an exciting winger. The much-travelled 29-year-old has been with the League Two club since 2014 but has also had spells with Hereford United, Burton Albion, Forest Green, Northampton Town, Yeovil Town, Aldershot and Bury. “It’s lucky that Ashley and I get on so well because we are on the phone constantly!” said Lewis recently. “Especially now he’s playing full-back and so am I.” A younger brother, Kyle, was at Arsenal’s Academy before suffering from a hip problem.

Special mention should go to Sergio Romero and Victor Lindelof, whose brothers are sportsmen. Diego Romero is a professional basketball player while Alexander and Zacharias Lindelof both play ice-hockey. Jesse Lingard’s cousin Gabby George is a women’s football star for Everton and England.