Pogba suffers new injury setback with Monaco future now in doubt

xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoMonaco's French midfielder Paul Pogba on the pitch ahead of the preseason friendly football match between Liverpool and Monaco at Anfield on August 9, 2026 [Darren Staples/AFP]By Kevin Hand and AFPPublished On 12 Aug 202612 Aug 2026Paul Pogba’s future with Monaco could be in doubt after he suffered another injury setback.

The former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder suffered a new injury to his left thigh on Tuesday during the first day of Monaco’s training camp in England.

The 2018 French World Cup winner suffered the injury as the Ligue 1 club trained at the English national football centre at St George’s Park after beating Liverpool in a friendly on Sunday.

The 33-year-old midfielder was only returning to group training after a long spell of right-knee problems.

Pogba has played only one half of football for Monaco in this preseason.

According to several sources close to the matter, the new injury shows Pogba is some way off the level of fitness required to begin the French league season.

There has been widespread speculation that Monaco have begun talks with Pogba’s representatives about buying the player out of the remainder of his contract, which is set to expire at the end of the new season.

After serving 18 months of a four-year ban for doping, Pogba played just six Ligue 1 matches for Monaco last season, totalling 115 minutes on the pitch.

Pogba started his career with United in the English Premier League before the manager at the time, Sir Alex Ferguson, released the midfielder on a free transfer in 2012 after a dispute with the player’s agent.

Juventus stepped in for the then 19-year-old, and he won four consecutive Serie A titles with them and reached the Champions League final before re-joining United in 2016 for a world record transfer fee at the time of $120.2m.

He returned to Juventus on another free transfer in 2022 before his release in 2024, during his ban. Monaco stepped in to hand the Seine-et-Marne-born player his first taste of senior football in his home country in 2025.

Pogba’s last appearance for France came in 2022, in a 5-0 victory over South Africa in an international friendly. It was the last of his 91 caps, during which he scored 11 goals for the team.

His World Cup-winning moment came with France when they defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final of the Russia 2018 tournament, with Pogba scoring his side’s third goal.