Monaco complete signing of free agent Paul Pogba

Monaco have completed the signing of free agent Paul Pogba on a two-year deal.

Pogba has been a free agent since being released from his contract by Juventus in November 2024 after failing a drugs test the previous year.

Pogba signed for Juventus upon the expiry of his Manchester United contract in 2022 on a four-year deal, but started just one Serie A game in his second spell in Turin.

Injuries restricted his first season to a handful of appearances, mostly off the bench, and in the September of the 2023/24 season, Pogba was provisionally suspended following an adverse finding to a drugs test.

When the test was confirmed to have been failed, he was handed a four-year ban from football, later reduced to 18 months on appeal, meaning he'd be able to train and play from January 2025 and March 2025 respectively.

Nevertheless, Pogba and Juventus reached an agreement to terminate his contract last November, with Pogba searching for a club since.

The Frenchman had been linked with a number of Ligue 1 clubs and was even linked with a shock return to Manchester United, but it's Monaco who've landed the 32-year-old's signature.

It's hard to know what to expect from Pogba, who's made just one start in three years, and only made 16 starts for Manchester United the season before.

On the one hand, it will likely take time for Pogba to get up to speed with such little football under his belt. On the other hand, there is limited mileage on Pogba's clock, with the midfielder only making 247 league starts in his career, around the point many midfielders are at their peak.

In moving to Monaco, Pogba will make his UEFA Champions League return following the club's third-placed finish in Ligue 1 last season.

Monaco qualified for the UEFA Champions League for a second consecutive season under Adi Hutter's stewardship, with the Austrian reaching the knockout round play-offs in Europe, being knocked out late on by Benfica.

Hutter typically plays with a double pivot, with Denis Zakaria often being deployed alongside Lamine Camara or Soungountou Magassa, and Pogba will provide some much needed depth and flair in the engine room.

Liam Williams

• Ligue 1
• Transfer News
• • 
  •