At the age of 31, former Manchester United, Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba should be a footballer at the peak of his powers and easing towards the culmination of a glorious career.
Instead, for some rather well-documented reasons, the 2018 World Cup winner appears destined to wind down his life in football in very different circumstances.
Pogba was hit with a four-year ban for breaching doping regulations. And while that was reduced to just 18 months on appeal – he will now be allowed to kick-start that stalled career from March 2025 onwards – it’s fair to say clubs are not exactly lining up to put forward the offer of a fresh start.
Paul Pogba, after all, managed a grand total of one Serie A start after returning to Juventus following the expiry of his Manchester United contract in 2022. A spate of niggling injuries limited him to just 160 minutes of action.
Considering the wages Pogba would likely command even after so long out of the game – his Juventus deal was torn up by mutual consent in November – any club weighing up a move would have to take into account the finances required, and the risks involved.
Paul Pogba of Manchester United warms up ahead of the Premier League match between Manchester United and Norwich City at Old Trafford on April 16, ...
Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images
Nice snub Paul Pogba as former Manchester United star looks for new club
Nice, the ambitious Ligue 1 outfit sitting under the Sir Jim Ratcliffe umbrella, have been linked in recent times.
But Florian Maurice, their sporting director, poured cold water on the prospect of Pogba playing domestic football in his homeland for the first time since leaving Le Havre for Man United back in 2009.
“I don’t think we have the possibility of bringing Paul Pogba to Nice,” Maurice tells L’Equipe. “I think there will be many clubs that will think about it, even if he hasn’t played for a long time.
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“There will be enormous competition, [and] we won’t be able to fight.
“He is a top player. What happened to him is painful but he is still a champion. He would do us good in our team, but I don’t think we have the possibility of bringing him to Nice.”
Is Maurice right? Will there really be ‘enormous competition’ for a man who has featured in the first XI just once in league football over the last two-and-a-half years?
Pogba offered Russia chance by Torpedo Moscow
It feels telling that, despite confirmation that Pogba could be back in action early in 2025, there has not exactly been a flurry of clubs coming forward to make their interest known.
One of the few to do just that, meanwhile, seem very unlikely to be able to put forward the sort of offer that would make Pogba look twice, even if the phrase ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ comes to mind.
Because, while the door to Russian football opens up, it is not Zenit St Petersburg offering Pogba a new beginning. It is not even the Moscow trio of Spartak, Lokomotiv or Dynamo.
Instead, it is Torpedo Moscow; the sleeping giants of Russia stuck in the second-tier and a long way from those UEFA Cup vs Manchester United days.
Torpedo Moscow, 30 years after facing Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, even spent four years in Russia’s third division recently.
Yet, their fall from grace has not stopped sporting director Ari from marking their centenary with the most ambitious transfer in Torpedo Moscow’s 100-year history.
“Pogba in Torpedo? That would be a bomb!,” Ari, the Brazil-born former Russia international, tells RB Sport. “He is currently without a club. We will consider his candidacy, of course. He is a football legend.
“He can still be useful.
“First of all, I will talk to the president of Torpedo, to outline our plans and start working. We work at Torpedo for the sake of achieving a good result.”
Pogba was linked with a return to Man United recently, albeit only to keep himself fit. Those reports have since been scotched, however.
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