Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has had a debut season to forget in Ligue 1
Paul Pogba’s comeback campaign at Monaco was supposed to be the redemption arc for one of football’s modern greats. Instead, it’s quickly fizzling out as the latest disappointing chapter since the World Cup-winner left Manchester United in 2022.
From deflating second spells with United and Juventus to even greater disappointment serving an 18-month suspension for a doping offence he insists was not intentional, recent years have not been kind to Pogba. And the sad truth is the 33-year-old’s best days may be long behind him.
An injury-ravaged debut year on the French Riviera is testament to that, with Pogba having played only 57 minutes in five appearances for Monaco approaching the season’s finish line. And French football expert Tom Williams believes another move lies on the horizon after failing to flourish in Fontvieille.
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“Yes, unfortunately,” he told MEN Sport when asked to assess Pogba’s comeback season after two years without competitive minutes. “From what we’ve seen, he is the same player. He still moves around the pitch in the same way. He has the authority that he always had. He has the same technical dexterity on the ball. He can still fly a perfectly weighted 60-yard diagonal pass.
“He just can’t get around the pitch anything like he used to be able to. Unfortunately, since the start of the season, he’s not been able to do it for more than 20 minutes at a time. Despite the fact that he has literally had nothing to do but just try to get fit.
“Again, I don’t know what the long-term solution is, if there is one, but it’s hard to have any real faith in his ability to come back from this in any durable way. Because he’s had the best part of nine months to have a go at it and it just hasn’t worked.”
Pogba’s latest contribution was a six-minute cameo off the bench in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Toulouse. The midfielder replaced Simon Adingra at 2-1 up in a bid to shore things up and get the result over the line, only for Sebastien Pocognoli’s side to wilt once again and lose vital ground in the European qualification race.
Although contracted until the summer of 2027, Pogba’s chances of staying at the Stade Louis II beyond this season could depend on which competition they find themselves in next term (if any). And his chances of seeing out a second campaign look that much slimmer if they fail to qualify for Europe at all, an increasingly plausible outcome at this rate.
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What was teased as the renaissance of France’s former prodigal son has instead illustrated Father Time’s hand in the matter. At 33, other creative midfielders often remodel their game to account for what their legs no longer can; Pogba would at this point be overjoyed just to get a 90-minute performance on the board.
Les Monegasques could truly do with him, too, in their efforts to secure Champions League qualification for next season. The reality, however, is that what started out as a potential dream acquisition is looking more like a nightmare by the week.
Williams continued: “I imagine if Monaco had drawn up a set of potential scenarios at the beginning of the season, in terms of how much football he might be able to play and how much he might be able to contribute, the season that he’s been able to produce so far would have been pretty much the absolute minimal expectation.
“Things have basically gone as badly as they could have done on the injury front. I guess it could [be seen as] a complete whitewash of a season [regarding Pogba’s situation].”
It’s important to note the high regard in which Monaco’s supporters held the player, and which they largely still do. Williams stressed that the fanbase welcomed Pogba, who remains United’s record signing, as one of their own, and he’s still very well received.
While others might be blamed for a lack of fitness, Pogba still inspires candour, particularly from young supporters. Even opposition fans have found it in them to show the player love; Pogba is, after all, a French icon due to his previous exploits and was one of the faces of that 2018 World Cup win.
But the harsher reality is the Monaco experiment “just hasn’t worked out,” in Williams’ words. Another move may well beckon this summer, but that only raises more questions about who will take on a pricey yet depreciating asset with so little promise of a return on investment.
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