Paul Pogba’s career has reached a stage that would have been almost impossible to imagine a decade ago.
Today, football continues to challenge the old stereotype that a player’s best years are automatically behind him once he enters his 30s. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Edin Džeko, Luka Modrić and several others have continued to perform at the highest level well into their mid and late 30s.
Pogba, too, was once expected to enjoy a long and successful career at the very top.
A gifted athlete with exceptional ability in his prime, he looked destined to achieve far more than he ultimately has. Now approaching his mid-30s, Pogba’s career has instead become a painful reminder of just how much talent can be lost to injuries, setbacks and unfortunate circumstances.
At his peak, the Frenchman was one of the most sought-after midfielders in world football, wanted by some of Europe’s biggest clubs and widely regarded as a generational talent.
Now 33, Pogba is a free agent after mutually agreeing to leave AS Monaco following a difficult spell in which he managed just 115 minutes of football.
The contrast is difficult to ignore.
There was a time when Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid were interested in signing him, while Manchester United eventually brought their former academy player back to Old Trafford for a then-world-record fee.
The former Juventus midfielder possessed almost everything a coach could want – exceptional technique, physical strength, outstanding vision, an impressive passing range and the ability to produce moments of brilliance capable of changing the course of a game.
During his six years at Old Trafford, the Frenchman recorded more than 80 goal contributions across all competitions, highlighting the impact he was capable of making when fit and firing.
Paul Pogba’s career should have been defined by years of dominance at the very highest level.
Instead, injuries, suspensions, off-field and family disputes, managerial changes and unfortunate timing repeatedly disrupted his journey.
And now, as he searches for another club, he is left with something more painful than the question of what he achieved.
What could his career have become if everything had gone right?
When Pogba Looked Unstoppable: From Juventus Masterclass to Old Trafford and World Cup Glory
Paul Pogba’s career had long been destined for greatness. Despite failing to break into Manchester United’s first team after rising through the club’s youth ranks, his move to Juventus proved to be the turning point.
In Italy, he blossomed into one of Europe’s most exciting and highly regarded midfielders.
Nicknamed “Il Polpo” (The Octopus) because of his long legs and ability to seemingly win the ball from anywhere, Pogba possessed a rare combination of power, technique and creativity.
He could dominate physically like a defensive midfielder, yet carry the ball, dribble past opponents and unleash long-range strikes like an attacking playmaker.
His rapid development was reflected in his growing list of honours. He won the 2013 Golden Boy award, then helped Juventus win four consecutive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2016. By 2015, he had established himself among the world’s elite, earning a place in the FIFA FIFPro World XI.
But the highlight of his career came at the 2018 World Cup.
Despite being labelled as too playful and lacking seriousness at times, Pogba displayed greater discipline and maturity with the French national team under Didier Deschamps, balancing his natural freedom with the tactical responsibility demanded of him.
He became one of France’s most important players alongside Kylian Mbappe as they marched to the final.
Against Croatia, Pogba produced one of the defining moments of his career. After the ball fell to him outside the box, he took a touch before calmly firing a low finish into the net – the kind of long-range strike that had become a trademark of his game.
At that point, he was only 25, had already conquered Italy and the world, and appeared to have his best years still ahead of him. That moment felt like the beginning of something even greater.
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Managerial Instability at Old Trafford: When Pogba’s Dream Began to Fade
At the height of Paul Pogba’s career with the French national team, things at club level in Manchester were far from the same. When he returned to United in 2016, the club saw him as a player capable of becoming the face of a new era at Old Trafford.
His arrival coincided with the appointment of José Mourinho as manager, alongside the signings of Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly, as United looked to rebuild and return to the top of English football.
His decision to return to Old Trafford also came with a sense of “unfinished business” for the Frenchman after departing the club as a promising youngster.
After making a name for himself in Italy, he wanted to prove himself in Manchester and help restore United to their former glory.
At the beginning, there were certainly moments when it looked like he could do exactly that.
He produced flashes of the player everyone had admired at Juventus – powerful runs through midfield, spectacular long-range goals, defence-splitting passes and performances where he appeared capable of controlling an entire game. His talent was never really in question.
But what derailed Paul Pogba’s career at Manchester United was his inability to maintain consistency.
His time at the club became increasingly complicated by questions over his role, his relationship with José Mourinho and the growing pressure surrounding his performances.
The two figures clashed several times over the course of their stay at United, with their relationship gradually deteriorating over tactical disagreements, injuries, public comments and growing distrust.
What began as a promising partnership soon became a strained one, with Mourinho questioning Pogba’s discipline and the player feeling increasingly restricted by his manager’s approach.
By September 2018, their relationship had become virtually irreparable, with Mourinho stripping Pogba of the vice-captaincy before eventually being dismissed later that year.
Despite playing under one of the most successful managers of the modern era, Paul Pogba’s career at Manchester United still fell short of expectations.
By the time he left Old Trafford, he had played under six different managers, including both permanent and interim appointments, winning just two major trophies with the club, the Europa League and the EFL Cup.
A modest return for a player once expected to lead United back to the pinnacle of English and European football.
Paul Pogba’s Career: How Injuries Robbed Him of His Best Years
If one factor more than any other changed the trajectory of Paul Pogba’s career, it was his physical struggles. After enjoying a relatively durable start to his career, injuries became increasingly frequent from 2019 onwards, turning what should have been his prime years into a frustrating cycle of recovery and setbacks.
In the 2019/20 season, the Frenchman managed just 16 Premier League appearances, as a serious ankle injury began a troublesome period of recurring injuries that eventually required surgery and disrupted the following years of his career.
Further thigh and calf problems followed, limiting his ability to build any consistent run of games. By the time he left in 2022, his body had already begun taking away some of his most important years.
One would have expected his return to Italy with Juventus to provide a fresh start, but the injury problems that had plagued his final years at Old Trafford followed him back to Turin.
A knee injury during pre-season ruled him out for 194 days and ultimately forced him to miss the 2022 World Cup, denying him the chance to defend France’s title on the biggest stage.
Even after returning, Pogba could not escape another cycle of setbacks. A thigh injury disrupted his comeback in March 2023, before another serious injury struck just 24 minutes into his first competitive start for Juventus in more than a year.
The accumulation of injuries became one of the defining tragedies of Paul Pogba’s career.
Whenever it seemed he had finally put his physical problems behind him, another setback would emerge, gradually taking away valuable years of his prime.
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When Football Was No Longer Pogba’s Biggest Battle
As if the injuries were not enough, Paul Pogba’s career was further complicated by serious problems away from football.
While battling recurring injuries, he also faced significant psychological turmoil away from the pitch, adding another layer of adversity to an already difficult period of his career.
In March 2022, while on international duty with France, Pogba’s journey took another unexpected and deeply personal turn. This time, the turmoil came from people he believed he could trust – those who should have been a source of strength and comfort during an already difficult period of his career.
He later revealed that he had been lured to an apartment in Paris, where he was allegedly trapped and held at gunpoint by masked men. The group reportedly demanded €13 million, claiming it was money Pogba owed for protection dating back to his childhood.
An investigation later revealed that the extortion plot involved people close to him, including childhood friends and his elder brother, Mathias Pogba.
The case eventually went to court, with Mathias convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for his role, while the alleged ringleader, Roushden K., received an eight-year sentence.
For a footballer already struggling with injuries and uncertainty, the psychological burden of such an ordeal was immense. The episode added another layer of turmoil to Pogba’s life away from the pitch and further disrupted a period when his career was already beginning to unravel.
Just as he attempted to put the ordeal behind him with a return to Italy, another setback was waiting.
In August 2023, following Juventus’ season opener against Udinese, Pogba was selected for a random drug test, which returned positive for DHEA, a banned substance that can increase testosterone production.
The result led Italy’s National Anti-Doping Tribunal to hand him the maximum punishment – a four-year ban from all football-related activities – at the age of 31.
Pogba subsequently took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where his legal team argued that the substance had been taken unintentionally after a doctor in Florida mistakenly prescribed him a contaminated supplement while assuring him it was safe.
After reviewing the case and recognising the lack of intent, CAS reduced his suspension from four years to 18 months.
Even with the reduced sentence, the ban kept Pogba away from competitive football from September 2023 until he was cleared to return in March 2025, costing him another crucial period of his career.
The Final Chapter: Can Pogba Still Reclaim the Player He Once Was?
From finishing 14th in the 2016 Ballon d’Or rankings to being touted as a future winner, Paul Pogba’s career has shown fans that the life of a footballer is not always as glamorous as it appears.
His unique style of play inspired thousands of young boys dreaming of becoming professionals, while his fashion sense, personality, goal celebrations and confidence made him an influential figure beyond the pitch.
But behind the glamour of his career was a much darker reality – one shaped by injuries, setbacks, personal turmoil and missed opportunities that gradually prevented him from reaching the extraordinary heights many believed were within his reach.
From Turin to Old Trafford and now without a club, the Frenchman continues to strive to rediscover the fitness and form he once possessed, while thousands of football-loving fans earnestly hope for one final chapter – a chance to see him return to the pitch and remind the world of the player he once was.
