12 Aug 2026 08:33 BST |
4 min read
Make us your Google favourite
Paul Pogba’s career hangs in the balance as Monaco are preparing to terminate the contract of the former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder.
Pogba signed for Monaco a year ago after 18 months away from the professional game following a failed drug test when playing for Juventus.
Although he won the Globe Soccer Comeback of the Year, his campaign with the principality side was catastrophic as he managed under two hours of action across all competitions because of constant injury issues.
Nice Matin reports that Pogba has suffered another injury issue in pre-season and Monaco have simply had enough of his constantly aborted comeback attempts.
The 33-year-old was told “several weeks ago” that he should look for a new club as Monaco were planning to terminate his contract.
It adds that Pogba has “taken the decision hard” because his intention was to see out his deal in the principality.
Injuries, though, have thwarted his plan. A right knee injury saw him miss four successive friendlies, and though he returned to training last Friday, he suffered a fresh injury to his right thigh on Tuesday.
Although the extent of the problem has not been confirmed, the local report indicates that the injury confirms Monaco’s conclusion that Pogba’s time at the club is up.
‘Pogba can no longer play in Ligue 1’
Pogba was notably written off at Monaco following his sole start for the club, which came in May against the league’s bottom side Metz.
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.
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.”
It seems that discussion has now taken place, with Monaco telling Pogba he has no future at the club. Should this be his last act in professional football, it will be a sad end to a career that saw him play a starring role for France as Les Bleus won the 2018 World Cup.
Related stories:
Man Utd Transfer News Today: Endrick bombshell, Arsenal star is ‘offered’
Fabrizio Romano Transfer News: Enzo Fernandez bomb, Lews-Skelly truth, Man City deals
Premier League summer transfers 2026: All the Done Deals
