Paul Pogba will return to professional football for the first time in two years, having served a four-year ban for doping that was reduced by 18 months following an appeal, meaning he could play again from March 2025.
Pogba, 32, will now be included in AS Monaco's squad for the first time to face Rennes on Saturday and the plan is for him to play a few minutes, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
But, having last appeared in a match on September 3, 2023, for Juventus against Empoli, what has the former world transfer record holder and 2018 World Cup winner done in recent years?
ESPN takes a look at how we got here.
August 8, 2016: Pog-back!
After leaving Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson to join Juventus in 2012, where he won Serie A four times in a row and the Coppa Italia twice, Pogba returned to United for a world record fee of £89.3 million.
Pablo Pogba. 🙌 #POGBACK pic.twitter.com/NhHjhWx5XT
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 9, 2016
He debuted in a 2-0 win over Southampton and won the Europa League and Carabao Cup in his debut campaign. However, he fell out with then-United manager Jose Mourinho and struggled to find consistency under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
June 1, 2022: free agent
United announced that Pogba would leave the club on a free transfer once his contract expired.
“It was a low-key end to a United career that brought so many great individual moments,” the club said in a statement. “So many beautiful goals, assists and pieces of skill. For a boy who joined the academy at 16 to make over 200 appearances for United and lift the Youth Cup, along with two major trophies, it is something that should be applauded and celebrated.”
Meanwhile, Pogba posted on social media: “I feel privileged to have played for this club. Many beautiful moments and memories, but the most important thing is the unconditional support of the fans. Thank you, Man Utd.”
July 11, 2022: Back-to-back Pogs!
Pogba decided to return to Italy and re-signed for his former club, Juventus.
#PogbackToBack ⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/ROHDIr2BSs
-Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) July 11, 2022
“Paul has returned to Turin,” reads a statement from Juventus. “He left as a child and returns as a man and a champion, but there is one thing that has not changed: the desire to write unforgettable pages of the club's history together once again. Pogba is back and we couldn't be happier.”
However, he soon had injury problems and quickly fell out with manager Massimiliano Allegri.
September 14, 2022: Brother arrested for extortion plot
Pogba's brother Mathias (and five others) were detained and subsequently charged by French authorities in connection with an alleged organized armed extortion attempt against the Juventus midfielder.
French prosecutors investigated allegations that Pogba was subject to extortion by his older brother and childhood friends, who allegedly demanded 13 million euros (nearly $13 million) from the former Manchester United star.
Mathias had previously been a player for clubs such as Partick Thistle, Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Crawley Town.
October 31, 2022: excluded from the World Cup
It was announced that Pogba would miss the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after failing to recover from knee surgery.
Pogba underwent surgery in September, but his agent said that after a medical check, the midfielder would not yet return to Juventus or join France for the World Cup, which runs from November 20 to December 18.
“Following the medical examination yesterday and today in Turin and Pittsburgh, it is extremely painful to report that Paul Pogba will still need time to recover from his surgery,” said his agent Rafaela Pimenta. “For this reason, Paul will not be able to join Juventus before the World Cup break or the French team in Qatar. If illusions changed things, Paul would play tomorrow.”
September 11, 2023: Test positive for DHEA
Italy's anti-doping agency announced that Pogba had tested positive for DHEA, a banned substance that raises testosterone levels, after Juventus' match against Udinese on August 20. His backup B sample also tested positive for testosterone on October 6, meaning the midfielder would face a doping investigation.
“By accepting the request proposed by the National Anti-Doping Prosecutor, the provisional suspension of the athlete Paul Labile Pogba has been foreseen,” Nado Italia, the anti-doping agency, said in a statement.
The court said Pogba had violated anti-doping rules when they found the banned substance “non-endogenous testosterone metabolites”, adding that the results were “consistent with the exogenous origin of the target compounds”.
Juventus issued a statement acknowledging the positive result and the suspension, adding that it would “evaluate the next procedural steps.”
“We are waiting for the results of the counter-analysis and we cannot say anything until then,” Pogba's agent, Rafaela Pimenta, said in a statement reported by Italian media. “The only thing that is certain is that Paul Pogba never intended to break the rules.”
Pogba later claimed it was a mistake after he was given some dietary supplements without knowing they contained an illicit substance.
February 29, 2024: sanction imposed for four years
Italy's anti-doping prosecutors had requested a maximum four-year ban and announced the full ban in February.
Pogba opted not to reach an agreement with Italy's anti-doping agency, meaning the case was tried before the country's anti-doping court. But in a statement he confirmed that he will appeal the ruling before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and insisted that he has never consumed prohibited substances.
“Today I have been informed of the decision of the Tribunale Nazionale Antidoping and I believe that the verdict is incorrect,” he said. “I am sad, shocked and heartbroken because everything I have built in my career as a professional player has been taken away from me.”
Allegri said at a press conference that he had contacted Pogba, who still had a contract with the Turin club until June 2026.
“I wrote him a message two days ago,” Allegri said. “I am very sorry on a human level, but also from a football point of view. This sport is losing an extraordinary and difficult to find player, whom I had the pleasure of coaching. Furthermore, Paul is also a very good person.”
May 5, 2024: Movie stars
Pogba took advantage of his free time to star in a French film called “4 Zéros” (a sequel to “3 Zéros”, released in 2002), which was released in April 2025, after filming scenes in Paris, sources confirmed to ESPN.
According to French outlet Le Parisien, which was the first to report on Pogba's role in the film, the 31-year-old played the soccer coach of a youth team.
October 4, 2024: suspension reduced to 18 months
The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced Pogba's ban to 18 months on appeal, meaning he would be eligible to return to competitive football in March 2025.
CAS judges lifted Pogba's suspension because they recognized a lack of intent and said his positive test was the result of mistakenly taking a supplement prescribed to him by a doctor in Florida.
Pogba welcomed the decision in a statement.
“Finally the nightmare is over,” he said. “Following the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision, I can look forward to the day when I can pursue my dreams again. I have always said that I never deliberately violated the World Anti-Doping Agency's rules when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed by a doctor, which does not affect or improve the performance of male athletes.”
The player then told ESPN after the CAS sentencing that he had considered retiring immediately after the initial four-year punishment.
November 30, 2024: Juventus terminates contract by mutual agreement
After playing his last game for Juventus against Empoli on September 3, 2023, the Serie A club confirmed the termination of his contract by mutual agreement.
“The club wishes Paul the best for his professional future,” the Turin team added in a statement.
Pogba added: “My time at Juventus has come to an end. It has been a privilege to wear the Juventus shirt. bianconeri and share so many special moments together.
“I appreciate the memories we made. They live on. Even in the most difficult times last year, your support was crucial and I want to thank Juve fans around the world for their compassion. It has been a pleasure to have experienced so many great moments with my teammates over the years and I wish them every success in the future. I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career and taking to the field with my next club.”
December 19, 2024: Mathias receives a three-year prison sentence
Mathias Pogba was sentenced by a Paris criminal court to three years in prison, two of which were suspended, “for the crimes of attempted extortion and criminal conspiracy.”
Mathias was also fined 20,000 euros, but avoided spending time behind bars, although he did have to serve a year with an electronic tag.
2:02
Laurens “very happy” to see Pogba sign for Monaco
Julien Laurens and Stewart Robson talk about Paul Pogba signing for Monaco, as he has not played competitive football since September 2023.
June 28, 2025: Joins Monaco
Having left Le Havre for Manchester United when he was just 16, Pogba had never played in France's Ligue 1 before, but joined AS Monaco on a free transfer.
A source told ESPN that Pogba, who signed a two-year deal, turned down a lucrative offer from a Saudi Pro League team.
November 11, 2025: Named in Monaco squad
Pogba was due to make his debut against Angers on October 18, but suffered a minor ankle injury during training and had to miss out.
Sources said the club put in place a complete physical rehabilitation process to get him fit again and avoid injuries when he started playing regularly. Hundreds of biochemical data, postural analysis, mental assertion, athletic measurements and mobility tests, cognitive tests, physical fitness tests, etc. were collected.
And he was named in the squad to face Rennes.
