Paul Pogba’s comeback tour has hit another detour. The former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder signed with AS Monaco last summer hoping to reboot his career after an 18-month doping ban. But a year later, the club’s CEO is openly hedging on whether Pogba will even finish his two-year contract.
Thiago Scuro, Monaco’s top executive, told reporters this week that Pogba’s future at the club is far from guaranteed. “It is a complicated topic because we have a lot of respect for Paul, for the person he is,” Scuro said. “Since he arrived, he has been very positive. It is also true that, last year, the project didn’t work well because when we started with him in the summer, the expectations were very different to what happened.”
Six appearances and 115 minutes
That’s the whole of Pogba’s 2025-26 season. Six matches. A total of 115 minutes. Injuries and fitness setbacks kept him mostly in the training room. The explosion and creativity Monaco hoped for never materialized. The 33-year-old French international just couldn’t stay on the field.
Scuro laid out the cold math. Pogba will spend this summer proving he can still play at a high level. New manager Filipe Luis is scheduled to sit down with him in the coming days to discuss where things stand. The CEO didn’t rule out a departure before the season starts.
“We have the summer to see what level we will see from Pogba,” Scuro explained. “He could leave at the end of the summer. With Paul, it has always been a very open and transparent relationship. If, at some point, the expectations of the player are different to the expectations of the club, we will have to speak to find a solution. The performance will give all the answers that we need. Maybe he will stay, maybe he will leave.”
Monaco opens preseason in just eight days against AS Saint-Priest. Pogba’s status for that match is unclear.
A career stuck in limbo again
This is a familiar spot for the 2018 World Cup winner. He burst through Manchester United’s academy, left for Juventus in 2012, returned to United for a then-world-record fee in 2016, and left again for Juventus in 2022. The four-year doping ban caught everyone by surprise, though it was reduced on appeal to 18 months. He joined Monaco on a free transfer last summer and it felt like a fresh start.
Instead, it’s become another chapter of uncertainty. The talent has never been the question. It’s the body not cooperating and the clock ticking. Monaco paid him with hopes of a mid-season spark. They got a guy who could barely get through warmups.
If Pogba can’t convince Filipe Luis he’s still got something left, his playing days might be running out faster than anyone expected.
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