Paul Pogba Poised for Return from Doping Suspension with Monaco

Paul Pogba has signed a two-year contract with Monaco last summer.

The Monaco midfielder is set to make his highly anticipated return from a doping ban this weekend.

At 32 years old, Pogba joined the Ligue 1 club after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced his initial four-year ban to 19 months. His last competitive match was in September 2023, where he played for Juventus in a Serie A game against Empoli.

Since joining Monaco, Pogba has been focused on regaining his fitness and was originally slated for selection against Lens on November 8. However, an ankle injury delayed his debut.

Now, he is expected to be included in Monaco’s squad to face Rennes on Saturday.

Pogba received a provisional four-year ban from football due to a positive test for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in February 2024, stemming from a doping test conducted in August 2023. He has maintained that his positive result was unintentional, attributing it to a supplement he received unknowingly containing a banned substance.

The France international, who was part of the 2018 World Cup-winning team, was allowed to return to football in March following the reduction of his ban.

Should Pogba take the field for Monaco against Rennes, it will mark his first-ever appearance in Ligue 1. He developed his skills at Le Havre before transferring to Manchester United without having played a senior match for the club.

Pogba initially joined Juventus on a free transfer in 2012, before making a return to Manchester United for a then-world record fee of £89 million four years later. After his six-year contract with United ended in 2022, he returned to Juventus but played only 12 times before his contract was mutually terminated.

He famously scored in the final when France triumphed over Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 World Cup final.