When Paul Pogba signed for AS Monaco last summer, the club thought they had achieved a huge, almost unexpected coup. A few months later, the general impression is quite different: the Pioche has still not played a single minute and the hypothesis of a return in 2026, once unimaginable, is no longer excluded. Due to relapses, complications and disappointed hopes, the ASM is now adopting an ultra-preventive strategy… even if it means postponing the start of the season beyond winter.
Pogba, a return postponed after each announced deadline
Since August, the reassuring messages have followed one another, but so have the injuries. As soon as a resumption date looms, a setback arises: muscular alertness, physical discomfort, then a sprained ankle at the end of October. Pogba, who has not played since September 2023, sees each window closing one after the other. Faced with this accumulation, Sébastien Pocognoli decided to change his tone: no more deadlines, no more promises. “The last time I said it…” sighs the coach, aware of no longer being able to put forward a credible timetable.
Behind the scenes, the trend is setting in: Monaco now refuses to take any risk on a player who has been absent for two years. The idea is taking shape: wait for the end of the first leg, then the winter break, before considering a possible return. A way to avoid a hasty comeback which would lead to a new relapse… but also a way to measure the unknown that the physical state of the 2018 world champion represents today. The famous “huge blow” is slowly turning into an impossible gamble.
A bet that looks more and more like a fiasco
Because beyond the athlete, reality imposes itself: Pogba has still not played, and the concern is growing. Even the staff recognizes a “ vicious psychological and physical circle”, where each progress is erased by a new twist of fate. The mental impact is immense. Pogba says to himself “happy” when he can touch the ball, but these moments remain too rare.
At 32, Pogba is still fighting to exist at a very high level. Monaco wants to believe in a comeback, but can no longer wait for it week after week. 2026 becomes, despite everything, the most realistic horizon. A distant, fragile horizon, but which remains the last hope of seeing La Pioche shine again in a Ligue 1 stadium.
