Monaco CEO makes frank admission on Paul Pogba’s future after ‘very high expectations’

Monaco’s CEO Thiago Scuro has admitted the club will hold talks with Paul Pogba over his future but insisted nothing has been decided.

The Ligue 1 club gave the former Manchester United star a career lifeline after a two-year ban, yet injuries have wrecked his comeback.

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Pogba, once the world’s most expensive footballer, has endured a big ordeal to return to glory after failing a drugs test at Juventus in 2023.

Having then been released by the Old Lady, Monaco offered the midfielder the chance to play competitively again in his homeland.

Pogba signed a two-year deal with the Principality outfit last June, but had to wait until November 22 to make his first appearance.

He played four minutes in a 4-1 loss to Rennes and managed late cameos against Paris Saint-Germain and Brest before injury struck.

Why did Monaco sign Pogba?

The club’s CEO, Scuro, joined talkSPORT on Tuesday to discuss the reasons behind signing the Frenchman and the plans for the summer.

“Paul, first of all, was about performance,” the 44-year-old told Matterface & Jordan. “It is about performance, the first step.

“Paul is a very talented player with a different tier than we are used to having in Ligue 1.

“He’s coming back from two years without playing – We knew that the challenge to bring him back would be high.

“Of course that he brings also an impact in terms of visibility to the league, to AS Monaco, commercial revenues, all of this.

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“But as we all know, the player must be on the pitch performing for everything to work well,” Monaco CEO Scuro continued on talkSPORT.

“At the end, we started this process in the summer with a very high expectation.”

Pogba suffered a calf injury on December 13 and has been out since – even being deregistered from Monaco’s Champions League squad.

In total, the 2018 World Cup winner has played just 30 minutes across three substitute appearances in Ligue 1 since joining last summer.

Les Monégasques CEO added: “It’s costing a lot for him to be able to be consistently on the pitch.

“He had a few minutes during the season which showed his level, his capacity, and we are still pushing for him to have more time on the pitch at the end of the season.”

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Will Pogba leave Monaco?

Scuro, who was previously linked with a move to Arsenal, revealed all parties will hold talks over the Frenchman’s next steps soon.

“Considering what is going on is both hands discussion in the summer if Paul is still willing to keep facing this process, and also on our side, at the right moment, we’re going to have this conversation,” he said.

“I would say today that both directions can happen by Paul’s position or even the club.

“Now we are focused on giving him the opportunity to be more on the pitch and show that he’s still able to play for a few more seasons.”

Pogba shared snaps of his latest return to training this week, but his European demotion has ruled him out of facing PSG on Wednesday.

Monaco travel to the Parc des Princes for the second leg of the Champions League playoff, looking to overturn a 3-2 deficit.

Asked about the club’s hopes of a shock away victory, Scuro replied: “Well, we are going fully with the mindset that we are able to face them.

“At the end of our second half with 10 men, we did well conceding only one goal against Paris.

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“We saw the level of substitutions, the quality of the squad, they have one of the best coaches in the world, who is the current champion of champions league.

“No doubts about their quality, but if we have a strong mindset on the game, if we keep ourselves together, if we follow the game plan, we are able to qualify to go further.

“This is the mindset we’ve been working on the last two to three days, especially here, and we go fully with this objective.

“[We know] how hard it is, but we have the capacity and the tools to go there and make a very good game tomorrow at Parc des Princes.”