Paul Pogba seals return to football after doping ban as ex-Man Utd star joins Ligue 1 side Monaco

Scottish Sun

5 hours ago

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PAUL POGBA is finally back in football.
And having ended his 18-month doping ban at the age of 32, the ex-Manchester United midfielder has joined a club in home country France for the first time ever.
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Paul Pogba will finally play domestic football in France
Credit: MANACO
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Pogba failed a test in August 2023 and hasn't played since the following month
Credit: Getty
Monaco have signed the 2018 World Cup winner on a two-year contract.
The former Juventus hero last played in September 2023 but insists he "still feels like a kid".
Pogba was suspended following a random drug test after the Italian giants played Udinese on the first day of the 2023-24 season.
He was banned for four years but that was slashed by 30 months on appeal last October.
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The four-time Serie A winner pledged to ultimately resume playing.
However, Pogba's contract with Juve was terminated by mutual consent last November.
Two months after that, he appeared to hint at a THIRD spell with the Red Devils.
Pogba teased United fans with an Instagram post.
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The midfielder reckons he's mentally and physically ready
Credit: MANACO
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He shared a cartoon drawing of himself next to Old Trafford ace Amad Diallo - with BOTH players in Red Devils' kit.
Pogba sent speculation spiralling by adding the words: "Let's see what's coming..."
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He's been free to find a new team since March this year.
And it's understood he hoped to attract interest from the Bundesliga as well as Juve's major rivals in Serie A.
Instead, however, Ligue 1 runners-up Monaco have swooped.
The Old Trafford academy product left United for his first stint with Juve in 2012.
Four glittering years later, Pogba returned to the Red Devils for a then-British record fee of £89million.
But his Premier League form was more erratic than electric.
Pogba did help Jose Mourinho's Red Devils win both the Europa League and League Cup in 2016-17.
But he reunited with Juve via a four-year deal and free transfer in July 2022, only to fail a drug test 13 months later
He was found to have taken banned substance dehydroepiandrosterone, which boosts testosterone and can improve endurance.
But Pogba's suspension was cut last autumn when the Court of Arbitration for Sport accepted his case it "was not intentional".
Now the 91-cap star is revving up for a top-level return.
Just days ago, as he neared his move to Monaco, Pogba said: "I'm mentally and physically ready, and I'm eager to start again.
"I'm 32, but I still feel like a kid."
Pogba also criticised Juve for rejecting his pleas for help.
He told French TV channel TF1: "I asked to get a fitness coach. I had the right, and I was always part of the team.
"They were not very kind to me, they did not support me, and I was shocked. I did not understand why."
"I thought I was at war with anti-doping authorities."