Dozens of journalists from France, England and Italy are inside the auditorium of Monaco’s performance centre. The densely packed room is filled with multilingual chatter about Eric Dier and Ansu Fati, who have just been presented to the media. There is one player yet to appear: the headliner, the man who has brought reporters from far and wide to this room. Then a door opens. Paul Pogba enters.
After making his way on to the podium and settling into his chair, he speaks. “As you saw, there were a lot of emotions,” says Pogba of the viral video in which the tears flowed as he signed his Monaco contract, bringing an end to two years in the footballing wilderness. “It is very rare to see me cry like that, so I hope you enjoyed it,” the 32-year-old says with a smile. “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 couldn’t hold back.”
It isn’t merely the doping ban, reduced from four years to 18 months upon appeal, or the injuries that limited the Frenchman to just over 200 minutes of football upon his much-anticipated return to Juventus in 2022. There was also the kidnapping in March 2022 as part of an organised extortion attempt, involving his brother Mathias.
It was Mathias who then attempted to defame his brother, claiming Paul had used a spiritual leader to cast a spell on Kylian Mbappé before Manchester United’s match in the Champions League against PSG in 2019. The marabout in question and Pogba have both denied the claim, although the latter did admit to consulting the former to help with his continued injury problems.
For Pogba, his mental turmoil explains – at least in part – his absence from the pitch, before his doping ban, which came into effect in September 2023. “It is all linked. If the mind is good, it will go well on the pitch,” he said. And mentally, he now seems to be in a good place. Beyond the aura, the bravado and frequent attempts to bring a light-heartedness to the exercise, he offered brief glimpses into his emotional turmoil in recent times.
“In my head, there was sometimes an angel that said: ‘You’ll come back,’ and a demon that said: ‘It’s over,’ but my wife pushed me and I stayed focused. 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. It is still the same Paul Pogba, perhaps a more determined one. You will see a determined Paul Pogba.”
The former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder is also targeting a return to the France squad in time for next summer’s World Cup. “It would be another dream, a bonus,” says the 2018 world champion. But it is a race against time to get there and, while Pogba sees his new mental fortitude and settling of off-field affairs as a means of ending his injury woes, his fitness remains the major question mark.
“My body, mentally and physically, has taken a hit in recent years, so to get back to a professional, intense level, it will take time,” he admitted, before expressing a hope of playing against his formative club, Le Havre, on the opening day of the Ligue 1 season in mid-August. “If it were up to me, I would be on the pitch tomorrow. You know me, I’m determined,” he added.
Thiago Scuro, the Monaco CEO, then provided a dose of realism. “I can guarantee you that he won’t be on the pitch against Le Havre,” said the Brazilian. “He was probably joking. I am here to be realistic and to be honest. We expect a three-month process.”
Realistically, we may not see Pogba until October. By then, Monaco’s league season will be six games old and their Champions League campaign will be under way. The strength of Monaco’s midfield means Pogba will not need to be rushed. Denis Zakaria has bounced back excellently after a difficult couple of years at Juventus and Chelsea, and is now club captain; Lamine Camara is earmarked as one of the next big talents to come out of Ligue 1; the academy products Soungoutou Magassa and Mamadou Coulibaly have shown promise and will be looking to push on; and Dier is also capable of filling in, if needed.
Pogba, therefore, becomes something of a wildcard, albeit a pricey one, despite arriving on a “free” transfer on a two-year deal. His salary will reflect his standing, even if he will not break the club’s wage structure. While unable to repay Monaco on the pitch for now, the shirt sales will provide a financial boost for the club; more than half the shirts pre-ordered from the club’s shop have been printed with Pogba’s name.
That explains the unequivocal joy voiced by actors within the French game. “It is great to see players of his quality in Ligue 1,” said the Rennes manager, Habib Beye. Brest’s manager, Éric Roy, said: “It is great news for Ligue 1, for him, and for Monaco. I look on it favourably, even if there is a lot of uncertainty about his fitness.”
The French football league’s president, Vincent Labrune, also reacted positively: “Ligue 1 will benefit not only from his talent and his charisma, but also from his international standing.” Pogba’s arrival, as well as that of Olivier Giroud at Lille, comes at a time when the league is attempting to launch a new TV channel before selling the product to providers. It is an ambitious project. The LFP wishes to have nearly two million subscribers by the 2027-28 season.
The short-term outlook, however, is a little more bleak. “I won’t hide it, the 2025-26 season will be difficult in terms of domestic TV rights. We know that,” said Nicolas de Tavernost, the CEO of LFP Media. Pogba’s move is clearly a good deal for Ligue 1, but is it good for Monaco? The last big-name veteran to join the club, Cesc Fàbregas, featured sporadically for the club before leaving on a free transfer in 2022.
Monaco will be desperate to avoid a repeat. “We are pretty confident that Paul can bring a lot,” says Scuro. Pogba added: “I hope to be even better than before because I have more desire. Here, I have everything to become a big player again.” In the absence of certainty, there is plenty of confidence; for now and for the next three months, that will have to suffice for Monaco and for Pogba.
This is an article by Get French Football News
