Paul Pogba - Juventus player | ban reduced - able to play competitively from March 2025

Someone said:
Off pitch issues isn't fan fiction. It's well documented and has enough material to make a movie about it. To assume this had no impact on his career is nonsense. Him taking banned substances isn't fan fiction either. He received one of the longest bans ever documented for a footballer, even after the reduction. Things might have been bad for United, but it has been for other clubs like Liverpool for decades as well, it didn't stop top players from giving their all and shining. He was lazy and lacked commitment, hence, the incredible inconsistency through out his time here. The fact that he has won everything with his country is irrelevant, he fecked up his club career.
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You're waffling. What are you arguing right now? That Pogba's career wouldn't have beeen better had he gone to Madrid or stayed at Juve? Because that's the statement I made

1. No one said anything about winning everything with his country, even his club career is better than what 90% of players can dream of. 2. He did shine at United even if he, like other players in the last decade, made a horrible career choice joining United.
 
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TsuWave said:
You're waffling. What are you arguing right now? That Pogba's career wouldn't have beeen better had he gone to Madrid or stayed at Juve? Because that's the statement I made

1. No one said anything about winning everything with his country, even his club career is better than what 90% of players can dream of. 2. He did shine at United even if he, like other players in the last decade, made a horrible career choice joining United.
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We have no idea how his career at Madrid or any other club would've been like. Playing for Madrid doesn't equal instant success, they have incredible high standards and no patience for his lazy ass.
 
Someone said:
We have no idea how his career at Madrid or any other club would've been like. Playing for Madrid doesn't equal instant success, they have incredible high standards and no patience for his lazy ass.
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Evidently. Conversations on this site are largely extrapolations and speculation - if they were confined solely to what’s definite, it would largely be moot. Luckily we have verifiable data from his time with Juve.

Fact of the matter is Madrid has been light years of United in the last decade, and so has Juve.
 
Someone said:
who only played well here and there.
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Name another player in the entire squad that that description didn't apply to.

Pogba for his first four seasons was about 50% good enough and 50% not good enough. Unfortunately that was probably a higher hit rate than any other player in the entire squad over the course of those four years other than De Gea (and even he wasn't that much better than 50/50 in those four seasons).

Obviously Pogba's last two seasons went to complete shit when the injuries destroyed him. Before that, while certainly not as good as we wanted, he was arguably the best of a bad bunch. The level of criticism he got was quite unfair when other players were getting away with murder compared to him.
 
Someone said:
We bough top players to make a difference, he was a lazy none committed player who only played well here and there.
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Yep, and how many of them did?

In the past decade, proven world class players mostly struggled to make an impact here and while young players with great talent stalled.

Maybe Pogba would have had issues whenever he went, but maybe he needed the right place with the right coach - like he had with Juve. He came back when he was 23 and still developing. We were not a good place for that.
 
Sir Erik ten Hag said:
I think that midfield of Pogba - Vidal - Pirlo - Marchisio was the best in the world during those years.
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Yeah, that was well balanced midfield which had so many quality players who complemented each other almost perfectly.

Shame they haven't had more success in Europe, their domestic domination for something else at the time.
 
Someone said:
Why hasn't his contract been terminated yet by Juventus?
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They needed the legal hook / the formal guilty sentence to invoke the termination for just cause, without owing him a single penny. This is now the case as both parties, the player and the club, just want to move on.
 
Black Adder said:
Yeah, that was well balanced midfield which had so many quality players who complemented each other almost perfectly.

Shame they haven't had more success in Europe, their domestic domination for something else at the time.
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They were 1 win away from UCL but unfortunately they faced Barcelona who had MSN at that time.
 
Glad to see his ban reduced. I’ve never seen a footballer receive a 4 year ban for failing a test before, it seemed an unprecedented and draconian sentence to me.
 
Sir Erik ten Hag said:
His performance brings annoyance too much for the rare joy to stand out.
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Yeah, either due to the club's fault or his own, he didn't fulfill his potential. Perhaps it was a combination of both. Shows how crazy high his potential was though because the player we had was still very good for large patches and certainly a lot better than some like to admit/remember. No United player in recent years has provided me with as much enjoyment as he did. Personal preference of course.
 
TsuWave said:
You're waffling. What are you arguing right now? That Pogba's career wouldn't have beeen better had he gone to Madrid or stayed at Juve? Because that's the statement I made

1. No one said anything about winning everything with his country, even his club career is better than what 90% of players can dream of. 2. He did shine at United even if he, like other players in the last decade, made a horrible career choice joining United.
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He would have rarely played.
 
I’d take him back in half a heartbeat.

Our midfield needs some guile and Pogba is a clear improvement on Eriksen and Casemiro. Mainoo can’t do it all by himself.

Cheeky 1+1 should be good for him.
 
MrWilliams said:
I’d take him back in half a heartbeat.

Our midfield needs some guile and Pogba is a clear improvement on Eriksen and Casemiro. Mainoo can’t do it all by himself.

Cheeky 1+1 should be good for him.
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He left for free - twice. Apparently has since refused to autograph United shirts when fans have asked him to sign them. Plus he's constantly injured.

No thanks. 3rd time is not a charm in this instance.
 
DarkLord1984 said:
He left for free - twice. Apparently has since refused to autograph United shirts when fans have asked him to sign them. Plus he's constantly injured.

No thanks. 3rd time is not a charm in this instance.
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Who knows. If he doesn’t have the offers he’d like in January, I think he’d be interested.

He’s a free agent with a point to prove. I think he’ll be focused. Especially to get back in the French NT
 
DarkLord1984 said:
He left for free - twice. Apparently has since refused to autograph United shirts when fans have asked him to sign them. Plus he's constantly injured.

No thanks. 3rd time is not a charm in this instance.
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Agree. He was one of the most fun to watch players in a Manchester United shirt since Ronaldo left the first time but injuries really did a number on him. He didnt look like Paul Pogba for his last two seasons and i doubt he would look any better now.

I wish we would have had a prime Casemiro and a prime Pogba at the same time.
 
MrWilliams said:
Who knows. If he doesn’t have the offers he’d like in January, I think he’d be interested.

He’s a free agent with a point to prove. I think he’ll be focused. Especially to get back in the French NT
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Do you not think the fact no one wants him is a red flag?
 
Oldyella said:
We don't know no one wants him (yet)

He definitely shouldn't be back here though. Total opposite of the direction we are trying to go now.
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Well his demand was super damn low when he left us, and there is no reason and nothing to suggest it's higher now.
 
MrWilliams said:
Who knows. If he doesn’t have the offers he’d like in January, I think he’d be interested.

He’s a free agent with a point to prove. I think he’ll be focused. Especially to get back in the French NT
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That's a great sentence.
 
MrWilliams said:
Who knows. If he doesn’t have the offers he’d like in January, I think he’d be interested.

He’s a free agent with a point to prove. I think he’ll be focused. Especially to get back in the French NT
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Focus or no focus, he is injury prone. His body is not doing it anymore.
 
Hammondo said:
Well his demand was super damn low when he left us, and there is no reason and nothing to suggest it's higher now.
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True. He might be a lot cheaper maybe so some clubs might take a punt. Big risk though.
 
Some of the people saying to bring him back.... have people lost the plot that much and have very very short / selective memories??! :o

When he wasnt injured, he was very mediocre. And has prob only regressed since leaving.

Wish him all the best & all , but. I wouldnt have him anywhere near Utd again
 
I think even if he was playing against us at Old Trafford that would be too close to the club.
 
MrWilliams said:
I’d take him back in half a heartbeat.

Our midfield needs some guile and Pogba is a clear improvement on Eriksen and Casemiro. Mainoo can’t do it all by himself.

Cheeky 1+1 should be good for him.
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Pogba was a lot better in his first four seasons than most people make out, but he couldn't handle it anymore in his final 18 months/2 years as his body started to break down. That just continued getting worse at Juventus, and he then got banned for 18 months after being drug-tested (which I presume he was taking to try to get over the injuries).

There's no way we should even be thinking about bringing him back.
 
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