Paul Pogba’s (32) return has not gone according to plan. It was always going to take time for La Pioche to get up to speed, having not played for two years due to a doping ban.
Upon his arrival at AS Monaco at the end of June, Pogba began a three-month plan to return to fitness. However, there were minor niggles along the way, pushing back his return until November. But once on the pitch, he has struggled to stay on it.
To date, he has played just over 30 minutes of football for the Principality club. He suffered a calf injury at the start of December and has yet to return to first-team training. “It’s frustrating, not just for him but for the whole family,” admits the brother of the former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder, Mathias Pogba.
Speaking on RMC Sport, he continued, “I told him that he couldn’t be back at 100% straight away. We expected better from his return. But this is the reality. The body is not used to this sort of rhythm at high intensity. We aren’t robots. When you come back, you have to do it little by little, otherwise, your body sends you signals and this is what has happened to him.”
Pogba joined the Principality club, looking to get his career back on track and with the objective of earning a place in Didier Deschamps’ France squad ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup. The chances of that dream becoming a reality dwindle by the day.
An early contract termination for Pogba?
But Mathias at least holds onto the hope of seeing his brother back at the highest level. “We are patient and endurant. He will have to be patient to get back to his best level. He is working. It is mentally that it is the most difficult. You have a lot of expectations. You are enthusiastic and then you receive another knife in the back. It is about bouncing back again and again; that’s it. There is the desire to get back on the pitch but the body is saying not to go too quickly […] you have to be patient. We have always taken it day by day,” said Mathias Pogba.
Pogba’s contract at Monaco runs until the end of next season, but the club’s CEO, Thiago Scuro, has admitted that the Frenchman’s current “programme” is not working and that, perhaps, if the situation doesn’t improve, there can be “another conversation” at the end of this season. Pushed on a return date for the France international, Scuro could not provide one when broaching the topic last week.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
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