Former Manchester United star Paul Pogba who last stepped foot on a pitch in a competitive manner over two years ago declared that “the nightmare is over,” after the Court of Arbitration for Sports reduced his sentence to 18 months last month. This allowed him to return to sports earlier this year, but his contract with Juventus had been terminated and he spent the remainder of last season unattached to any club.
Nevertheless, the midfielder since joined French side Monaco and broke down in tears after signing a 2-year contract with the club. However, he is yet to make a debut for Les Monégasque as we approach the midway of this 2025/26 campaign.
Why Pogba has not made his debut
Pogba’s story has been one of setbacks, amid spells of injuries at Juventus, and his career seemed over when he got a four-year match suspension for testing positive for DHEA in the 2023/24 season. The 32-year old had been fighting tooth and nails to get in shape so he could make a return in October as announced by Monaco boss, Adi Hutter, “We maybe expected him to be in the squad against Nice (on October 5th), but we may need to wait until Angers (on October 18th).”
“We hope that, after the international break, he can play.”
But Hutters soon left the club and all plans of resumption for Pogba was left hanging. Soon Sébastien Pocognoli came on to replace Hutters but the wait went on. Pogba then almost made the bench in Monaco’s match against Paris FC on November 1 but he picked up a fresh ankle injury in the training day before the game.
Possible return date
Sources report that the ankle injury will not delay Pogba’s return for long as he is expected to resume once the international real is over. However, manager, Sébastien Pocognoli commented on his return saying, “I said we would judge based on what he shows now. It’s also out of goodwill. But the last time I said it… So I try not to get too far ahead.
“It will happen when it’s meant to happen. All I can say is that when he’s on the pitch, I see someone happy and focused on getting back to the highest level. There’s no doubt about that.”
“A return after the break? That’s what we’ve planned,” Pocognoli told reporters.
Now we’ll have to see how he reacts to training, but yes, we’re on track.”
Les Monégasques will face Rennes on Saturday November 22nd and the possibility of Pogba making the bench is very high. Notwithstanding, if he misses this chance, he could still make his debut when they face Champions League Champions PSG at the end of the month or against Real Madrid or Juventus in January, 2026.
