Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba
In an announcement earlier this month, former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba mutually agreed to terminate his contract with Juventus that was due to last until 2026.
The French international’s contract will now terminate this Saturday, and it has sparked interest from across Europe.
The 31-year-old hasn’t played a single match since September 2023 after being banned from football for a doping offence.
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Pogba, a French World Cup winner, was initially handed a four-year doping ban after testing positive for an illegal substance. However, his suspension was reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) earlier this year, following a ruling that he had taken the substance unintentionally.
The 31-year-old midfielder can resume training in January and will be eligible to play for a club again in March. Pogba returned to United in 2016 for a club record £90m and spent six seasons at Old Trafford, contributing to two trophy wins for the English giants.
And former United forward Louis Saha believes United should consider re-signing the 2018 World Cup winner.
In an interview with Slotswise, Saha said: “Bringing back Paul Pogba would be a brilliant idea for United. In terms of talent, there are not many like Paul Pogba in the world. It’s all about creating a nice balance in midfield and he provide so much."
For the second time in his career, Pogba signed for Juventus from United in 2022 on a free transfer. He went on to appear for the Italian giants only 12 times. Even before his ban, Pogba’s time at Juventus had been plagued with multiple injuries which Saha commented on.
He added: “Physically, of course, he hasn’t played. He has been injured a lot and with his ban he will be rusty, and those things don’t make it easy to get back to his best, but in terms of talent, there is absolutely no doubt he could be an important player for United."
If Pogba were to sign for United either this January or next summer, it would be the third stint in his career playing at Old Trafford. It means United and Juventus will be the only two clubs he’s ever played for in his career.
There is certainly no doubt he would be familiar playing his football back in Manchester, but can he still offer something to United’s midfield?
With three of United’s most important midfielders in Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes all being over 30 years old, adding another veteran midfielder may be problematic.
However, Saha seems convinced that Pogba still has much to offer Ruben Amorim’s side, as he added: “I really believed that Pogba still has a huge amount of talent to show and his appetite to perform must be enormous, which could be a big advantage."
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