PAUL Pogba has signed for French top flight club Monaco on a two-year contract as he returns to competitive football after serving a doping suspension.
“AS Monaco is pleased to announce the arrival of Paul Pogba. The French World Champion has signed a two-year contract with the Principality club until June 30, 2027,” the Ligue 1 club announced today.
Pogba, aformer Manchester United and Juventus midfielder, was provisionally suspended after being randomly tested following Juventus’ opening game of the 2023-2024 season against Udinese.
The 32-year-old later received a four-year ban which was cut to 18 months in October following an appeal.
He agreed a mutual termination of his contract with Juventus in November and has been able to restart his career since March as a free agent.
It will be the first time the France World Cup winner will play in Ligue 1 in his career.
In the final judgement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) it was confirmed Pogba inadvertently took dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a substance which boosts testosterone and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned list.
Crucially, however, the ruling stated DHEA only has an effect on females.
Pogba started out Le Havre, and joined Manchester United’s academy before moving to Juventus, where he won Serie A in each of his first four seasons — including two Doubles.
He then returned to Old Trafford for a world-record £89m in 2016, and in his first season won the UEFA Europa League and FA Cup.
Pogba, who has 91 caps for France, then helped Les Bleus to 2018 World Cup glory, scoring in the final as they beat Croatia 4-2 in Russia.
Injuries and a lack of form interrupted his final three seasons at Manchester United, and he struggled on his return as a free agent to Juventus.
With agency report