{"id":113996,"date":"2024-03-02T16:41:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T16:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career"},"modified":"2024-03-02T17:15:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T17:15:44","slug":"is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career","title":{"rendered":"Is this the end of Pogba\u2019s career?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>Paul Pogba\u2019s career could be over after his four-year ban for doping with the feeling that the 30-year-old Juventus midfielder never fulfilled his potential.<\/p>\n

The former Manchester United player, who won the World Cup with France, was supremely talented and in bursts looked an absolute world-beater \u2014 but he never really showed it on a consistent basis.<\/p>\n

He has already said he will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), but if that fails, by the time he will be eligible to play again \u2014 August 2027 \u2014 he will be 34 and without a club.<\/p>\n

So it will be a big ask for a player who has not managed the equivalent of 22 full league games in a season since 2018-19 to stay fit and motivated for such a long period of time. French football journalist Julien Laurens said on BBC Radio 5 Live\u2019s Euro Leagues show: \u201cI remember seeing him as a 15-year-old and he was the best thing I\u2019ve ever seen. He was so good, a generational talent, an absolute genius.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a good career, he won four Serie A titles and the World Cup. It\u2019s a really good career. But he was so good that I thought there was no limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he\u2019ll get to the top, he\u2019ll win Ballons d\u2019Or, he\u2019ll win more trophies and be the best player in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end we will always look back at his career and him probably the same way thinking what should have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

What now for Pogba?<\/b><\/p>\n

Pogba was provisionally suspended in September after a drugs test taken after the opening game of the season found elevated levels of testosterone in his system.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Italy\u2019s national anti-doping tribunal (Nado) confirmed the four-year suspension, which backdates to August 20, 2023, when he failed the test.<\/p>\n

Pogba said the verdict was \u201cincorrect\u201d and he would \u201cnever knowingly or deliberately\u201d dope. He confirmed he will appeal and added \u201cwhen I am free of legal restrictions, the full story will become clear\u201d.<\/p>\n

Laurens said: \u201cThe story being told is he\u2019s got a friend who is a doctor in Miami that gave him some food supplements which he took not knowing what\u2019s in them and that\u2019s what caused all of this. He could have easily said \u2018I was naive, I didn\u2019t pay attention and I should have mentioned it to Juventus\u2019 medical staff\u2019 and maybe the sentence would have been reduced.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him to expect less than four years because he said \u2018I didn\u2019t know I was taking it and hoping for the best\u2019, I find it a little naive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Italian football expert Mina Rzouki said: \u201cHis sentence can be reduced if an athlete can prove their doping was not intentional or their samples were contaminated \u2014 or if the player provides substantial assistance to help the investigators.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s hinging on whether he can prove this was unintentional and then there is potential we could see the ban reduced to two years which may mean he could make a comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurens said: \u201cI think four years does [end his career]. He\u2019s almost 31. You add four years to that. For 18 months he has barely played because of injury. So it\u2019s not just four years without football, it\u2019s almost six years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure he would want at 35 to be ready to go again. I think this is how it will end if this ban is upheld. If it\u2019s two years there\u2019s a chance at 33 someone gives him one last contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juventus are thought to have cut his salary down to about \u00a32,000 a month (Sh371,296) \u2014 as part of a collective agreement between clubs and the players\u2019 union.<\/p>\n

Pogba was earning \u00a36.9m (Sh1.2bn) a year. Juve have the option to cancel his contract, which runs until June 2026 \u2014 more than a year before the four-year ban would be over. Italian football writer James Horncastle said: \u201cJuventus have not put out a statement. Their sporting director, when he was last asked, said they\u2019d await the final outcome of the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still an appeal to go to CAS. Until that is exhausted, we\u2019ll not have an official statement from Juventus on what actions they can take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did Pogba\u2019s career live up to expectations?<\/b><\/p>\n

By most metrics, Pogba had an extremely successful career.<\/p>\n

He started his career at Manchester United before moving to Juventus, where he won Serie A in each of his first four seasons at the club \u2014 including two doubles.<\/p>\n

He then returned to United for a world-record \u00a389m (Sh16.4bn) in 2016. In his first season at United, he won the Europa League and FA Cup.<\/p>\n

Pogba, who won 91 caps for France, then helped Les Bleus to 2018 World Cup glory, scoring a goal in the final as they beat Croatia 4-2 in Russia.<\/p>\n

In the two seasons either side of that World Cup, he had a hand in 38 Premier League goals for United (six goals and 10 assists in 2017-18 and 13 goals and nine assists in 2018-19).<\/p>\n

But for a player who was tipped to be a legend, he never got close to a Ballon d\u2019Or – and those two trophies in 2017 with United would prove to be the last two of his club career.<\/p>\n

Injuries interrupted his final three seasons at United, with lack of form not helping either, and his return as a free agent to Juventus 18 months ago was meant to be a new start. But more injuries, and then this ban when he was finally fit, mean he has only played 213 minutes for the Italian club.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was supposed to be a reunion telling a new story, a prodigal son returning to Juventus. This summer everyone thought this would be the year and he would do something special,\u201d said Rzouki.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the club and the player wanted to write the story of the icon\u2019s triumphant return. Instead, we will be left wondering what will happen to a player who never quite fulfilled his true potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurens added: \u201cHe got to be one of the best players in the world, 2018 was the pinnacle of his career in Russia with France, but not as high as he should have been.”<\/p>\n

“He\u2019ll agree with that. The only way I\u2019d use the word waste for him and his talent is because he should have had a much better career than what he\u2019s had.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. Paul Pogba\u2019s career could be over after his four-year ban for doping with the feeling that the 30-year-old Juventus midfielder never fulfilled his potential. The former Manchester United player, who won the World Cup with France, was supremely talented and in bursts looked an absolute world-beater \u2014 but he never really showed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":113995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[6857,7003,544],"class_list":["post-113996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-kenya","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"\nIs this the end of Pogba\u2019s career? - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paul Pogba\u2019s career could be over after his four-year ban for doping with the feeling that the 30-year-old Juventus midf ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is this the end of Pogba\u2019s career?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Paul Pogba\u2019s career could be over after his four-year ban for doping with the feeling that the 30-year-old Juventus midf ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-02T16:41:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-02T17:15:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/03\/sm_1709387033.493339.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"761\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Is this the end of Pogba\u2019s career?\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-02T16:41:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-02T17:15:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career\"},\"wordCount\":1096,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/03\/sm_1709387033.493339.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Kenya\",\"Kenya\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/is-this-the-end-of-pogbas-career\",\"name\":\"Is this the end of Pogba\u2019s career? 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