Paul Pogba has signed a two-year contract with AS Monaco, marking his return to competitive football following an 18-month doping suspension.
The 32-year-old midfielder, formerly of Manchester United and Juventus, was provisionally banned after testing positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) — a substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list — following Juventus’ opening match of the 2023–24 season against Udinese.
Originally handed a four-year suspension, Pogba successfully appealed the decision and had the ban reduced to 18 months in October.
He mutually terminated his contract with Juventus the following month and has been eligible to resume his career since March as a free agent.
The move to Monaco marks Pogba’s first spell in Ligue 1, despite a long and successful career across top European leagues.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) concluded that Pogba had inadvertently taken the banned substance, which is primarily effective in women and has no proven performance-enhancing impact in males — a key factor in the reduction of his suspension.
Pogba began his senior career at Manchester United before rising to prominence at Juventus, where he won four consecutive Serie A titles and two domestic doubles.
In 2016, he returned to United for a then-world-record £89m and helped the club win the Europa League and FA Cup in his first season back.
A mainstay of the French national team, Pogba has 91 international caps and was instrumental in France’s 2018 World Cup triumph, scoring in the final as Les Bleus defeated Croatia 4–2.
However, recurring injuries and inconsistency plagued his final years at Manchester United and hindered his second stint at Juventus.
