Although the conclusion itself comes as absolutely no surprise, the resolution of the Paul Pogba saga at Juventus is noteworthy in both the peace it brings and in the utility it will provide the Bianconeri going forward.
Pogba signed with Juventus in 2022 with plenty of optimism in the air, as he was a low-risk free agent signing from Manchester United. The more romantic Juventini had hoped a return to Turin would bring the best out of Pogba, who looked, in glimpses for the French national team, like the world-class superstar he was at the beginning of his career.
But the 2018 World Cup winner barely played for Juventus. Injuries, once again, hobbled the center midfielder, and it seemed as though only minutes after he would return, another soft-tissue ailment would claim the increasingly fail veteran.
What truly doomed Pogba’s second stint with Juventus, however, was a failed doping test, and while his initial four-year sentence would later be reduced to 18 months, the transgression spelled the end of his Juventus – and footballing – career.
More than two years after the failed drug test in question, Juventus and Paul Pogba have finally, officially parted ways with a contract termination that frees up 30 million euros in money for the Bianconeri.
That’s a significant amount of “free” money coming back to Juve that won’t be flushed down the drain on wages to an, effectively, retired player who probably wasn’t going to help the team in the first place anyway.
Because even if Pogba never failed that drug test, he’d still be on Juve’s books, likely perennially injured with the once-in-a-blue-moon assist from range to Dusan Vlahovic.
Now, Juventus can take those 30 million euros and spend it on a starting-caliber player, either for their injury-ravaged defense or an attack that could still use a couple more pieces in order to secure the team’s first Scudetto since both Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala were healthy together in 2020.
It’s sad that there are legitimately young fans today who think of Pogba as an overpaid, overrated scrub, when he was one of the finest playmakers of his era, with his first tenure in Turin being beyond magical; he is one of the best young center midfielders this game has ever seen, particularly in terms of his technical excellence.
Pogba can now leave fond memories behind him, and instead of ruing yet another woeful Juventus decision to throw a ton of money in salary at an aging and injury-prone midfielder, Juventini can choose to look to the future and what the club can do with the money in 2025.
That 30 million euros is ample to sign someone who can help Juve win the Scudetto now and be a part of Thiago Motta’s long-term project in the future. You know, the kind of investment with that same money Juve should have made initially in 2022 instead of in Pogba, but, clearly, the Bianconeri were always stuck in the past with the likes of Max Allegri and Arkadiusz Milik on the books, too.
