On July 3, 2025, Paul Pogba’s eyes were shining. After three blank seasons due to injuries, a suspension for doping and an incredible affair of which he was the victim, the brand new player from AS Monaco (ASM) imagined a return to competition against his training club, Le Havre, from the first day of the French football championship, in mid-August.
“It would be a great story”said then, in front of the press, the 2018 world champion with the Blues. His hopes, however, were quickly dampened by Thiago Scuro. “I can guarantee you that he will not be able to be on the field”had judged the general director of the ASM, considering that his recruit “must have been joking”.
Six months later, the 32-year-old midfielder no longer dreams at all. Paul Pogba accumulates physical setbacks, which keep him in the infirmary and prevent him from rejoining the group for good. Unavailable for the trip against Real Madrid, Tuesday January 20 in the Champions League, during which his team sank (6-1), the French international will also miss the trip to Le Havre, Saturday January 24, as part of the 19e championship day.
Thiago Scuro, for his part, maintains his role as a communicator without qualms, not hesitating to put into words what looks more and more like an acknowledgment of failure: “The plan put in place since Paul’s arrival is not working as planned”he admitted, Wednesday January 14. The figures are relentless: the former Juventus Turin resident has not played a single Champions League match this season and, in Ligue 1, he only played… thirty minutes in total, between the end of November and the beginning of December 2025. Far, very far from the expectations aroused by the announcement of his recruitment by Monaco.
His last appearance on a lawn was on December 5. Paul Pogba then played on the pitch for twenty-one minutes at the Francis-Le Blé stadium in Brest (0-1 defeat). Shortly after, he injured his calf. He still hasn’t recovered. As if his body was failing him, the consequence of his long months of inactivity. Before the end of the matches with the Rocher club, the last meeting of the midfielder dates back to September 3, 2023, in the Juventus jersey, against Empoli, in Serie A.
His return to the Blues is moving away
Paul Pogba is not only physically affected; it is also morally. “He is very affected by the fact of having so much difficulty being available and increasing his playing minutes”explained the director general of ASM. To make matters worse, the overall context is heavy in the Principality due to the sporting crisis that the club is going through. For several weeks, he has had a series of defeats. The French international’s enthusiastic phrases about his ability to get back on track seem to belong to a distant past.
Thiago Scuro ensures that the team and the main interested party “working hard to find solutions”. However, his hopes are measured: “Either it works and he will be on the field soon to make an impact, or it doesn’t work. » In the first case, “the parties will be able to sit down this summer to discuss the future”added the manager, while Paul Pogba’s contract officially runs until June 2027.
This situation has another consequence: the probability of seeing “the Pick” wearing the national jersey with a view to the World Cup (from June 11 to July 19, in the United States, Canada and Mexico) is diminishing. The one who has 91 caps with the Blues, for 11 goals, said he dreamed of it when he arrived on the Rock. However, he knew that his proximity to the coach, Didier Deschamps, would not be enough. A competitor at heart, the latter was not the man to summon him just to please him.
“If I am not in good shape, if I play badly and I do not achieve a good performance in Monaco, the French team, we must forget”he himself admitted, on November 22, 2025, on the occasion of his return to competition, on the pitch in Rennes (4-1 for the Bretons). “He has the ability to return to the best level”Didier Deschamps declared about him during a press conference in March 2025. Before qualifying: “It’s not going to happen by snapping your fingers. » It is clear that he was right.
