Paul Pogba is back. After a bitter break marred by scandal, hurt, and a ban that might have ended his career forever, the French midfielder has signed a two-year deal with Monaco. It was French national L’Équipe that broke the news, and although nothing has been formally announced by the club as yet, the move is already described as a fait accompli.
Pogba, a 2018 World Cup winner, returns to professional football having been banned for 18 months for doping after receiving a reduced sentence from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
A return under uncertainty, but also optimism
Pogba has not played since September 2023, following his positive test for testosterone after a match against Udinese, in the first round of Italy's Serie A. He was suspended for four years but was successful in having the suspension cut to 18 months, having claimed that the substance inadvertently entered his system through supplements that had been prescribed to him by a doctor in the United States.
His Juventus contract expired in November of that year, the climax of a frustrating second stint in Turin. Pogba has been a free agent ever since, working quietly to rebuild body and mind. Now 32, on a two-year deal at Monaco, the Frenchman is looking to prove he has something left to give at the top level.
The burden of a name that once symbolized greatness
For so long, Pogba was the world's most talked-about player and most polarizing figure. A midfielder of such uncommon blend of vision, talent, and athleticism, who could play multiple midfield positions, he was the world's most expensive midfielder when Manchester United re-signed him in 2016.
But it did not work out. More recently, he played at the 2018 World Cup, leading France's midfield to the title, a reminder of how great he could be when he is fit and in the right mindset. That's the Pogba Monaco is attempting to regain. But there is one enormous question looming over it all: does that Pogba still even exist?