Without a club since leaving Juventus, the French midfielder is close to signing with Ligue 1 side Monaco
French midfielder Paul Pogba, who has not played for almost three years, is close to signing for Monaco, a team that has qualified for next year’s Champions League, several media outlets reported on Monday.
According to French newspaper Le Parisien, Pogba and the Principality club “have reached an agreement for a two-year contract.” The sports newspaper L’Équipe later reaffirmed this information.
Contacted by AFP, Monaco did not confirm the existence of an agreement. According to a source close to the ongoing negotiations, the deal is “well underway” and “talks are positive.”
Invited to a French television program on Sunday, Pogba, 32, confirmed that he is “talking” to a club, without revealing which one. According to his entourage, it is indeed Monaco, which finished third in the Ligue 1 last season.
Pogba, who has 91 caps for France and won the 2018 World Cup with Les Bleus, has never played in Ligue 1. After starting out at the Le Havre youth academy, he moved to Manchester United at the age of 16, alternating between the English club and Juventus between 2011 and 2024.
Suspension
If the signing is confirmed, the player could resume his career at Monaco after three seasons without practically playing due to an 18-month suspension for doping, injuries and a kidnapping case in which he was the victim.
His last game for Juve was on September 3, 2023. Days later, Pogba was suspended for four years for a doping test that revealed the use of a derivative of testosterone (DHEA). The suspension was reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which considered that the “ingestion” of the substance “was not intentional and was due to a dietary supplement prescribed by a doctor in Florida”.
Since March of this year, with the end of the suspension, Pogba was free to play again, but has not found a new club since terminating his contract with Juventus in November 2024.
