Paul Pogba will no longer be wearing a Juventus Turin shirt: Italian soccer’s most successful club announced on Friday the termination at the end of November of the contract of the 2018 world champion, suspended for doping until March 2025. Juve have not been sentimental about the French international, who had said he was prepared to lower his enormous salary to continue his career with the Bianconeri.

“Juventus Turin and Paul Pogba announce they have agreed to terminate his contract with effect from November 30, 2024”said the “Old Lady” in a brief statement that it concluded “by wishing Paul all the best for his professional future”. Unaware of it at the time, Pogba bid farewell to the tifosi from a dressing room at Allianz Stadium on October 6 during the Serie A match between Juve and Cagliari.

The French midfielder, all smiles, had greeted the fans at length before kick-off in one of his rare appearances in Juve’s stadium since his announced positive drug test in September 2023. Two days earlier, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had reduced his suspension from four years to eighteen months. The CAS accepted Pogba’s explanation for the presence of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in his body (“It was not intentional and is the result of mistakenly taking a dietary supplement prescribed by a doctor in Florida”), while acknowledging his responsibility (“Mr. Pogba is not exonerated from any fault, as a professional player, he should have been more vigilant.”).

A €100 million transfer in 2016

At the end of this final stage of the procedure, Juve’s management have therefore decided to part company with the player who earned them over €100 million when they sold him to Manchester United in 2016 after four seasons, and whom they reacquired in 2022 after six seasons in the Premier League.

The Piedmontese club, whose losses reached 200 million euros in 2023-24, is getting rid of a player who cost them a lot of money (8 million euros per season and a 2 million euro signing bonus) for a meagre return (12 matches, 213 minutes played, zero goals) and a singularly damaged image.

It was the epilogue to a second disastrous experience with the “Old Lady”, with serious injuries, a resounding extortion scandal and doping. A key figure in Les Bleus’ 2018 world title triumph in Russia and a global soccer star, Pogba endured a nightmare 2022-23 season with a meniscus injury in his right knee that limited him to ten appearances for the Bianconeri and kept him out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Victim of extortion

“La Pioche” was also the victim of a bizarre case of organized extortion, for which six men, including his brother Mathias, were sent before the Paris Criminal Court in September. Just as he seemed to be rid of his physical problems and getting back into the game, Pogba fell from grace in September 2023 when the Italian Anti-Doping Agency (Nado) announced that he had tested positive for drugs on the opening day of the season.

As a result, his salary was reduced to the minimum of 2,000 euros stipulated in the collective agreement, he was no longer allowed access to Juventus facilities, including the Continassa training center, and his support was scarce. But he continued to train and never gave up hope. Between now and March 11, 2025, Pogba, 31, can write a new chapter by finding another club, possibly in Saudi Arabia or in the North American Championship (MLS). He can also hope for a return to the French national team, where Didier Deschamps has been one of the few to publicly support him over the last twelve months. “There’s this light coming back on”, said a delighted coach last month, referring to an important player both on and off the pitch (91 caps, eleven goals).