30-year-old France midfielder Paul Pogba is once again in the headlines of football news for the wrong reason, but this time it is not about one of his bizarre hairstyles or bright hair colours. After a league game between his club Juventus and Udinese in Matchday 1 of this season’s Italian Serie A, the prohibited non-endogenous testosterone metabolites was found in the Frenchman’s drug test results, leading to his internal suspension by the club a month ago. To make matters worse, another sample of Paul Pogba’s drug test was also found positive with non-endogenous testosterone metabolites a few days earlier, and these results are about to see him being slapped with a four-year-ban.
A Fall From Grace for the Former Golden Boy
Ever since Paul Pogba graduated from Manchester United, he has been a household name when everyone talks about the brightest talents in the world of football. Surviving the struggles to break into the first team at the Red Devils, the 2013 winner for the Golden Boy award proved his worth at Italian Serie A powerhouses Juventus in the following four seasons, scoring 34 goals and offering 40 assists in 178 appearances in all competitions for the Old Lady. With his young and volatile presence, Juventus achieved incredible milestones, namely four league titles, two Coppa Italia and and Supercoppa Italiana, before his former club Manchester United decided to bring the player back to Old Trafford.
His transfer fee to the Red Devils from the Old Lady was a whooping sum of €110 million, making him one of the most expensive players at that time. Nevertheless, despite two trophies and a handful of brilliant performances, Paul Pogba never really fully utilised his potential during his second spell with the Red Half of Manchester. His final statistics for the Red Devils stood at 39 goals and 51 assists in 233 appearances over two stints, followed by another club reunion in his professional career via a return to Turin, Italy.
Paul Pogba’s former club Manchester United recently came back from 1-0 down and beat Brentford 2-1 in Matchday 8 of the 2023/2024 English Premier League Season. The Red Devils won the game with a couple of goals from 26-year-old Scotland midfielder and super-sub Scott McTominay during the stoppage time, and we have covered all the match details you need here. Check the article out now!
🚨 BREAKING: Paul Pogba has tested doping positive also to backup sample today.
🇫🇷 Juventus will now decide how to proceed with his contract as Pogba faces risk of long-term ban. pic.twitter.com/SzLedWaTey
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 6, 2023
What Punishment Will Paul Pogba Receive?
Paul Pogba’s second tenure with Juventus not only plagued with multiple injuries and form declines, but back-to-back failed drug tests are also provisionally putting a permanent halt to his professional career. An enormous salary downgrade of a €2k-monthly wage from an annual income €10m and bans from entering Juventus’s training facilities are amongst the many penalisations the French midfielder is facing at the moment.
Apart from these mentioned penalties, Paul Pgoba is going to be punished with a ban that could last from two to four years, meaning we are unlikely to see the player play another professional football game again, considering he is already 30 this year. Furthermore, should he be slapped with such a lengthy ban, he will join former players such as Diego Maradona, Joey Barton, Juanito, Eric Cantona, Rio Ferdinand, etc. as players who had been banned from playing professional football for an extensive period of time.
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Deschamps: “I Don’t Know What Tomorrow Holds for Him.”
The head coach of Les Bleus Didier Deschamps was recently been asked about his thoughts on the 30-year-old Juventus player and his future with France, in which the 54-year-old refused to promise a place for the latter in his squad despite his sentiments towards his ex-favourite midfielder. He said: “Allegri is particularly sad for Paul, as am I too, a lot of things have fallen on his head lately. He finds himself in a complicated situation. He will defend himself. He will have to defend himself, this does part of a long procedure. It all started with the doping test. I don’t know what tomorrow holds for him, but what’s happening to him is sad for him.
“I’ll not have a categorical or radical position. I don’t know what his future will be like, it will take time. Even if he hasn’t been with us for a while. I hope for him that he finds his smile again, the full possession of his means, that he will find the pitch again, but it will take time.” Paul Pogba, a player who had 11 goals and nine assists in 91 appearances for Les Bleus since making his senior debut back in 2013, was an important member to Deschamps’ squads in the 2016 UEFA European Championship, 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2020/2021 UEFA Nations League, finishing the first tournament in second place and the other two competitions as champions.
Also Read: Former Chelsea and Real Madrid Star Eden Hazard Sadly Announces His Retirement From Football at 32
France to Play Netherlands and Scotland in the Second International Break in 2023/2024
The Paul Pogba-less France are set to take on Netherlands in Matchday 7 of the 2024 UEFA Euro Qualifiers this Friday, as Deschamps’s side look to continue their superior form in the group stage that saw them collected all 15 possible points and scored 11 goals without conceding any thus far. After the France-Netherlands match at Johan Cruijff ArenA, Les Bleus will return to France and host in-form European side Scotland at Stade Pierre-Mauroy for an international friendly match. The latest news about these games can be found at OtherLeague.com or you may watch them live at AsiaSport.com via the platform’s free and high-quality stream channels.
