Paul Pogba’s attempted return to top-level football appears to be over almost as soon as it began, with AS Monaco poised to terminate the France international’s contract following another devastating injury setback.
According to a report from L’Equipe, Monaco have decided to terminate the contract of Pogba after he suffered a left thigh injury on Tuesday, with the midfielder collapsing in severe pain during a small-sided training game at St. George’s Park during the club’s pre-season camp in England.
Multiple French outlets, including Nice-Matin and Le Parisien, have corroborated the story.
Crucially, though, this latest setback merely confirmed a conclusion the club had already reached several weeks earlier: Monaco had informed Pogba of their intention to end his two-year deal and told him he was free to look for a new club. In other words, the injury accelerated a decision Monaco’s hierarchy had already made behind closed doors.
Pogba, now 33, joined Monaco on a free transfer in the summer of 2025, signing a two-year deal that was originally due to run until 2027. It represented his route back into professional football after a turbulent few years: he was handed a four-year doping ban in February 2024 after testing positive for a testosterone-boosting substance, later reduced to 18 months on appeal, and had already seen his second spell at Juventus ended by mutual consent.
But the Monaco chapter has been beset by fitness problems from the start. The midfielder made just six competitive appearances for the club, totalling 115 minutes, all in Ligue 1.
Pre-season this summer was viewed internally as a make-or-break period to assess whether he could finally stay fit, but Pogba played just 45 minutes in a 5-2 friendly win over Saint-Priest on 18 July, before a right knee problem ruled him out of four subsequent matches, ahead of the latest thigh injury.
Monaco are expected to negotiate a financial settlement with Pogba and pay out the remainder of his wages, with reports suggesting his salary sits below £44,000 a week. The exact severity of the new thigh injury has not been confirmed, though he was due to undergo scans this week to determine the full extent of the damage.
For Pogba, a World Cup winner in 2018 and a player once signed by Manchester United for a then-British record £89.3 million, the collapse of his Monaco spell marks another grim milestone in a career that has been derailed repeatedly by injury, off-field controversy and, most damagingly, the doping ban that cost him nearly two years in his prime.
Should the termination go through as expected, he will once again be a free agent, searching for a club willing to gamble on a player whose talent has rarely translated into sustained fitness over the past half-decade.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Paul Pogba’s Monaco career is ending almost as quickly as it began. Persistent injuries and just six appearances in a season, capped by a training-ground collapse with a thigh injury, forced the club’s hand, though Monaco had already decided to part ways with him even before this latest setback.
Both sides now expect to negotiate a financial settlement, leaving Pogba, at 33, once again searching for a club after his doping ban and injury troubles have repeatedly derailed his comeback.
