3 May 2026 17:56 BST |
4 min read
Paul Pogba has been told that he is no longer good enough for top-level football after making his first start for nearly three years during Monaco’s 2-1 win over Metz in Ligue 1.
Pogba won Globe Soccer’s Comeback of the Year award earlier this season for the hour of action he had enjoyed following his return after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance but has endured a nightmare campaign with Monaco.
Injury has beset the 33-year-old World Cup winner, who made his return to the starting XI on Saturday.
Pogba was hauled off after 57 minutes of Monaco’s success against Ligue 1’s bottom club, but that was enough for critics to write off the Frenchman.
The former Manchester United and Juventus star looked short of match fitness, with both his physical condition and his influence on the game lacking.
Paul Pogba can no longer play in Ligue 1
Ligue 1 expert Maxime Chanot was scathing of his assessment of Pogba on RMC’s After Foot program.
“I found him very, very average. He can’t do this anymore,” the former New York City and LAFC defender said. “Today, I think Paul Pogba can no longer play in Ligue 1. With the ball, there’s no problem, he has an exceptional way of playing with the ball, but he can’t defend.
“With the ball, he’s always incredibly elegant, no problem there. I really like his long passing, but then Pogba in a defensive midfield role in a team that needs to defend? Forget it…
“At one point early in the match, he’s running with a player, he made a sliding tackle, but he was forced to do so because his opponent put two or three metres into him with two or three steps.”
Monaco’s Pogba gamble has failed
Given his age, there was widespread surprise that Monaco decided to take a punt on Pogba last summer after so long out of the game.
There has been little doubt that the gamble has failed. He has managed only 115 minutes of first-team football.
Globe Soccer’s Comeback of the Year award has been shown to be little more than a PR exercise, with Pogba’s time in the principality having been calamitous almost from the start.
Speaking to the media back in January, Monaco’s under-fire CEO Thiago Scuro said: “Clearly the programme for Paul is not working as we expected in the beginning. We are working hard to find solutions for him. Personally, he is disturbed. The plan is constantly changing according to the situations that we face. A few small injuries in different parts of the body are bringing challenges to the process.
“If it doesn’t work, we can sit down in the summer and have another discussion about where we go.”
He still has one year left on his contract in Monaco, yet it would be remarkable if Man Utd’s most expensive signing were to remain at the club.
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