‘I Used To Play for Spurs but This World Cup Winner Would Be Perfect for Arsenal’

Paul Pogba was once one of the most highly-touted midfield talents in Europe, but a four-year ban from football which was recently reduced to 18 months put a temporary halt to the Frenchman’s career.

With it expected that Juventus will terminate his contract – by mutual consent – former Premier League striker Darren Bent feels a move to Arsenal to work under Mikel Arteta would pay dividends for all involved parties.

Bent: Pogba Still Has the ‘Quality’

Arteta should look to ‘suss out’ whether the midfielder has the ‘hunger’ to get back on track

Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Bent – who is part of the Premier League 100 club – discussed what’s next for Pogba, who is free to resume training in January and make his first appearance in March. Bent suggested that a move to Arsenal could reignite Pogba’s career with the ‘quality’ that he has, though Gunners boss Arteta would need to sit the Frenchman down first and see if he is driven to succeed, or just looking for a pay day.

Furthermore, Bent – who is an Arsenal fan but spent two seasons playing for their rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, in his career – believes that if Pogba were to move to the Emirates, then he would likely have to adjust and make the most of the potential limited opportunities he would receive, much like Raheem Sterling has had to do since his switch from Chelsea over the summer, where he has started just two league games this season.

This remains all hypothetical, but should Pogba attract the interest of the Premier League juggernauts and opt to move to North London, this could help spark the Gunners’ title charge toward the latter stages of the season.

The Rise and Fall of Pogba

Has split his career yo-yoing between Man United and Juventus

Developed in the Manchester United academy before being allowed to leave for free, where he took his talent to Turin to play for Juventus, before coming back to Carrington four years later on a club-record £93 million deal, and then returning to Serie A again for Juve after six seasons at Old Trafford, the 2018 World Cup winner has endured tumultuous times throughout his career, which has even seen him described in the past as a waste of money.

This came despite him having been part of a Man United squad which won the Europa League and two League Cups in what still remains their most successful run in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, though he never reached the heights that he showed after his first move to Turin, where he won four Serie A titles in four seasons, two Italian Cups and three Italian Super Cups, whilst having 51 goal contributions in 124 league outings.

After a public fall-out with then-United manager José Mourinho, Pogba was allowed to walk out of the door for the second time – again for free – and since then, things have continued to spiral, with his return to Italy mired by injury which saw him play just six games in the 2022-23 season.

Expecting to make his big return in 2023-24, the 31-year-old was then handed a four-year ban after he tested positive for doping, but after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, this ban was reduced to 18 months with the Frenchman having accepted that his ingestion of the banned substance “was not intentional.”

With Pogba expected to suit up elsewhere when he makes his return to football, Bent isn’t the only one who thinks the Frenchman’s destination should be the Emirates, with former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit, via Tuttosport, believing he would do anything to clear his name, while he fits into Arteta’s midfield “perfectly.”

Petit’s views echo Bent’s, who feels that his suspension would have ‘humbled’ the star, with him now realising that he will likely become more of a ‘rotation, squad player’ if he is to get a move to a top European club.

While Pogba’s future still remains up in the air, he has been linked with a move to the United States to play in the MLS, with him having a house in Miami. However, there is also some speculation that he may consider another MLS club, so as not to be in the shadows of Lionel Messi and co at Inter Miami, with the Seattle Sounders touted as another potential option.

WIth the Frenchman able to join a team for training from January, it is expected that an announcement on his future will be imminent, after his contract with Juventus is terminated.

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt, and FBREF.com – accurate as of 06/11/2024.

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