Paul Pogba resurfaces at Monaco after sweet-salty first stint and doping ban

Pogba put pen to paper for a two-year deal in June, that would mark his return since September 2023 after his suspension ended March. The 32-year-old first invit3d interest frim Marseille, reported BBC. “We thought about [signing Pogba], we wanted to do it,” said Marseille sporting director Medhi Benatia in February. “The problem is, if we want to bring in a Pogba, who is not yet fit, does it make sense to alter the balance?”

Monaco dived in securing termination of his Juventus contract. The French club, were balancing out the squad’s age profile after their academy products, Maghnes Akliouche, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Soungoutou Magassa making first team alongside sub-20 recruits George Ilenikhena, Christian Mawissa and Lamine Camara. After experienced players, Wissam Ben Yedder and Guillermo Maripan, left, director Thiago
Scuro went looking for experience.

“My understanding is that, in the summer, with the goals that we have, we were becoming too young,” the Brazilian told BBC. “The next step that we see is getting the performance players on board. That is the challenge.” In mid-May, Pogba met with manager Adi Hutter and president Dmitry Rybolovlev, and was slotted to play alongside another pro, former England defender Eric Dier, “We want to keep our [youth-centric] strategy, balance it a little but not step away from it,” added Scuro to BBC about Les Monegasques’ plans.

While Pogba was keen to play against his formative club, Le Havre, on the opening day of the season, Scuro called it unrealistic. “I can guarantee he won’t be on the pitch against Le Havre. We are here to be realistic. We expect a three-month process,” he told BBC.

When he was unveiled, more than half of the Monaco shirts ordered were printed with the World Cup winner’s name, while social media content surrounding his arrival gained 400 million impressions, reported BBC. President of the league, Vincent Labrune said, “The league will benefit not only from his talent and his charisma, but also from his international standing.”

Pogba has several controversies. An extortion attempt saw him forced to make an admission following accusations from his brother, Mathias, that he had used a witch doctor to place a curse on Kylian Mbappe before PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester United in 2019. The extortion dated back to the midfielder’s time at Old Trafford. In March 2022 he was kidnapped by masked men, who demanded a payment of 13m euros (£11.3m).

Pogba was keen to leave the difficult chapter behind. “It is all linked,” he said at his presentation, which he began by explaining his tears upon signing for Monaco. “If the mind is good, it will go well on the pitch. It is very rare to see me cry like that, so I hope you enjoyed it. There were so many images that came into my mind. We know the doping story, my injury… everything came back to me during the signing and I just couldn’t hold it back. It was a moment of joy.”

“I spoke with multiple people (during his wilderness) who helped me to see things in the present, to not think about the past or the future,” he added. “I wanted my kids to see me on the pitch – my dream is to see my kids celebrate one of my goals with a dab,” he joked.