Pogba Faces Setback as Monaco's Concerns Grow Over Future
The quiet of Monaco’s pre-season camp at St George’s Park was broken by a single shout. Then silence.
Paul Pogba, fighting to relaunch his career in the principality, had gone down again.
During a routine passing drill, the 2018 World Cup winner suddenly cried out and collapsed to the turf. According to Maxi Foot, medical staff rushed over immediately, with two members of Monaco’s backroom team helping him from the pitch as worried team-mates looked on. What began as just another training session quickly felt like a turning point.
This latest problem arrives at the worst possible time for both player and club. Pogba had only just rejoined full group sessions after a troubled spell marked by repeated physical issues and long absences. His pre-season minutes so far amounted to little more than a cameo, but they had at least suggested a way back.
Head coach Filipe Luís had recently spoken with optimism about bringing the 33-year-old properly into his plans. The idea was clear: an experienced, technically gifted midfielder anchoring Monaco’s ambitions for the new Ligue 1 campaign. Instead, he is once again staring at a familiar opponent – his own body.
For Monaco’s hierarchy, the timing is brutal. The club is in the final stretch of its preparations for the new season, a phase they had earmarked as decisive in judging Pogba’s long-term role. Pre-season was supposed to provide answers about his durability and his ability to handle the demands of top-level football again. It has delivered another question mark.
The medical team will now put him through scans to determine the extent of the damage. Only then will the club know whether this is a brief scare or something more serious. Until those results land, there is only an anxious wait – for Pogba, for Filipe Luís, and for decision-makers already wrestling with how much they can rely on him.
His physical condition has become a running concern rather than a passing issue. Every planned reintegration has carried a caveat, every step forward shadowed by the risk of another breakdown. At 33, the margin for error shrinks with every setback.
On the training pitch, the reality is immediate. Monaco must now reshape their midfield plans without one of their marquee names, at least in the short term. Rotations, roles, even transfer priorities could be affected as they look ahead to competitive fixtures without knowing when – or in what state – Pogba will return.
For now, the club’s priority is simple: guide him through yet another rehabilitation, both physically and mentally. The bigger question is harsher. How many more times can a player of his profile, and a club with Monaco’s ambitions, afford to roll this particular dice?
