Monaco CEO admits Pogba plan has fallen flat

• Monaco’s CEO says the original plan for Paul Pogba “is not working,” with the midfielder limited to 30 minutes since arriving last summer.
• Pogba, 32, has been sidelined for a month with a left calf injury suffered in training, the latest setback after injuries and a doping ban disrupted his career.
• CEO Thiago Scuro still hopes Pogba can return soon, but suggested contract clauses could allow both sides to revisit the deal in the summer.

Monaco have publicly conceded that their attempt to restart Paul Pogba’s career has not gone the way they mapped out.

The club’s CEO, Thiago Scuro, admitted on Wednesday that the strategy built around Pogba’s return has not delivered, with the former France midfielder restricted to just 30 minutes of football since joining on a two year contract last summer.

Pogba’s latest absence has been driven by a left calf injury suffered in training, an issue that has kept him out for a month and has again stalled any chance of building match rhythm. He did not make his Monaco debut until the end of November, underlining how little continuity the club has been able to get from a signing designed to add experience and quality.

“The program and the plan for Paul is not working the way we expected in the beginning,” Scuro said. “He is very disturbed by the fact that he is struggling … [he wants] to be more available, to increase the minutes on the pitch.”

The tone matters here. Monaco are not dressing this up as a minor inconvenience, they are describing a project that is off schedule and a player who is frustrated by how little he can contribute.

Pogba joined Monaco after a period where his career had been shaped more by setbacks than starts, with injuries and a doping ban derailing momentum. The move was framed as a clean restart, and Scuro said Pogba “wept” when he signed, a detail that speaks to the weight the player attached to the chance.

Monaco’s own season adds to the pressure. They have underperformed and sit ninth in Ligue 1, already 17 points behind leaders Lens. That context makes any high profile signing harder to carry when availability is uncertain.

Scuro said he remains hopeful Pogba can return to competition and make an impact soon, but he also left the door open to a reset in the summer if the situation does not improve.

“If it does not work, for sure the parties can sit down in the summer and try to have another discussion, where do we go?” he said. “It’s not the moment to have this discussion because we are engaged on trying to find the solution and bring him back.”

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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