Paul Pogba scored his first goal since 2022 in a friendly fixture between Monaco and Brentford’s B team.
The former Manchester United star stepped up his return from a calf injury by starting in a 2-1 defeat to the Premier League side’s Under-23s.
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Following his 18 month doping ban, Pogba joined Monaco last summer in a bid to revive his playing career.
His return to football hasn’t been plain sailing, though, with the 32-year-old playing a combined 30 minutes since finally making his debut for the Ligue 1 side in November.
Pogba has struggled for fitness, and a persistent calf problem has seen him out of action since early December.
Fit and firing
After returning to first-team training last week, Pogba was back on the pitch in a friendly against the Bees on Friday.
And the Frenchman didn’t take long to make his presence known, as he fired Monaco in front after just 25 minutes.
Pogba drilled the ball from the edge of the box after teammate Ilane Toure’s shot hit the post and rebounded into his path.
This was the star’s first goal since February 2022, when he found the net for Man United in a 1-1 draw with Burnley in the Premier League.
The powerful strike proved to be one of his final involvements in the game, with the midfielder coming off shortly after on a minutes strict.
Unfortunately for Monaco – whose starting XI also featured former Tottenham defender Eric Dier – they were unable to hold onto their lead without Pogba, as Brentford came back to win 2-1.
What’s next for Paul Pogba?
Pogba will be hoping his injury woes are now behind him, as he looks to provide a boost to Monaco in their season run-in.
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Sebastien Pocognoli’s side are locked in a battle for Champions League qualification, currently sitting sixth in Ligue 1 with seven games left to play.
The top three sides will qualify directly for the competition, while the team finishing fourth goes through qualifying.
Monaco trail third-placed Marseille by just three points, who they face next in their first game back after the international break.
With Pocognoli previously revealing plans for Pogba to return to match action after the March internationals, fans will be hoping he can roll back the years in the coming weeks.
Paul Pogba: The story so far
Once viewed as one of the world’s best midfielders, Pogba scored in France’s World Cup final win over Croatia in 2018.
The Parisian began professional career at Man United, graduating from their academy to make seven senior appearances, before making a name for himself at Juventus after joining in 2012.
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He won four consecutive Serie A titles in Turin and emerged as one of the best young talents in European football.
United came calling for a second time in 2016, and Pogba returned in a then-world record move, joining for a fee of £89million.
During his six-year second spell, he brought his appearance total to 233 in all competitions, scoring 39 goals and assisting 51 times.
A second move to Juventus followed in 2022 after his the expiration of his contract at United, but things soon started to unravel.
After making just 10 appearances in the 2022/23 campaign, it was announced in October 2023 that Pogba had failed a drugs test as he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.
A four-year ban was issued, although later reduced to 18 months as part of a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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Pogba later had his contract in Italy terminated, and joined Monaco ahead of this season, where he was pictured in tears when signing his contract.
He made his first appearance off the bench in a 4-1 loss to Rennes in November, followed by late cameos against Paris Saint-Germain and Brest before injury struck.
