Monaco interested in move for Paul Pogba

Ligue 1 side Monaco are interested in a move for free agent Paul Pogba.

The 32-year-old has been without a club since leaving Juventus by mutual agreement in November 2024, with his last competitive appearance in September 2023.

The decision to leave the Serie A side followed the reduction of his four-year ban for failing an anti-doping test to 18 months in October. Pogba’s successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) meant he was eligible to return to training in January and playing in March.

The Athletic reported in April that D.C. United were the Major League Soccer (MLS) side that owned Pogba’s discovery rights. Pogba had been linked to a move to MLS in part due to the time he had spent in the United States during his ban. The Frenchman has also attended several MLS games, including in Los Angeles and Miami.

Though Pogba has 91 caps for France, he has never played professionally for a team in his homeland after coming through the academy at Manchester United and then leaving for Juventus in 2012. Monaco, meanwhile, finished third in Ligue 1 in 2024-25, securing qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Pogba made just nine appearances for Juventus after rejoining the club from Manchester United in the summer of 2022.

After seeing his ban reduced on appeal, Pogba said he was  willing to give up money” to play for Juventus again.

“I would just like to be on the pitch, any pitch,” Pogba said after the verdict. “I am still the same player with a different hunger, more motivated and more hungry. I will appreciate the game more than before because the game has been taken away from me. I realise how important it is for me.”

During his first spell with Juventus, Pogba helped the Turin side win four successive Serie A titles. United paid a then world-record €110million (£93.2m) transfer fee in 2016 to bring him back to Old Trafford, where he won the League Cup and Europa League before returning to Juventus at the expiration of his contract.

He was once considered one of the world’s greatest midfielders but after his 2018 world title with France, Pogba suffered a series of injuries and performed poorly at club level.

In his personal life, he was also the victim of an extortion plot involving his own brother.

Signing Pogba in 2025 would be a gamble. In recent months, he has recently been linked to Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco.

The Monegasque club seems to trust that he can return to form. Joining Monaco would mark Pogba’s first foray into Ligue 1.

Reports say Monaco is also eying FC Barcelona forward Ansu Fati, another star searching for momentum.

The 22-year-old once represented the future of Spanish football and a possible successor to Lionel Messi, but a string of injuries dampened his ambitions.

The 2025 summer transfer window in French football will last until 1 September 2025.