Paul Pogba opens up on his doping ban ‘hell’ after being hit with four-year suspension… as he reveals all about his relationship with Jose Mourinho and when he wanted to leave Man United
It is the afternoon of October 4, 2024. Paul Pogba stands at home gazing out of the window overcome with shock. Happy shock.
He’s dressed in a suit, a circumstance that Pogba later tells me has had his family in stitches of laughter.
Indeed, Pogba is finally allowing himself a smile. Surely not even Graeme Souness would begrudge him that.
Over 12 months of heartache; a period Pogba morbidly describes as ‘darkness’ has reached its climax.
It’s an ending that has brought vindication to Pogba’s fight for justice; the doping ordeal, that originally saw him banned for four years for testing positive for banned substance DHEA, is over – the Court of Arbitration for Sport slashing his original suspension to 18 months on appeal after the body ruled he did not intentionally seek an advantage.
French World Cup winner Paul Pogba’s four-year doping ban was reduced to 18 months earlier this month
The former Manchester United star is allowing himself to smile now that the prospect of returning to the pitch is just a few months away
‘Here’s a funny story: I was trying on a new suit for a film premiere but I didn’t have my phone,’ Pogba recalls to Mail Sport.
‘My wife [Zulay] comes rushing upstairs with my phone screaming “it’s the lawyer, it’s the lawyer”. I said I would just call him back but she said I had to take the call.
‘So I went downstairs to speak to him on the phone with the suit on! He told me the news and I was silent.
‘Everyone was jumping, so happy but I was in shock. Quickly that happiness turned into a determination.
‘We went through hell. A time of darkness. But this is my second chance, I have to use it. I was pumped.’
As Pogba opens his heart for what is his first and only interview with a UK newspaper since having his ban reduced at the quaint Sofitel Paris Baltimore Hotel – a brisk 20-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower – you can sense the relief emanate from his impressive athletic frame.
The trappings of his career are there in full view. Dressed head-to-toe in Prada, he was certainly in the right city for making a fashion statement.
Custom made ‘PP’ earrings adorned both lobes. The two necklaces draped across his neck sparkled.
The French star sat down with Mail Sport’s Sami Mokbel for his first and only interview with a UK newspaper since having his ban reduced
Pogba was dressed in the trappings of his elite career in head-to-toe designer clothing – but the midfielder has earned his luxuries
This is, of course, one of the most recognisable sportsmen on the planet. He’s earned his luxuries.
Yet, there is a redeeming humility to Pogba that strikes you. He was engaging as we chewed the fat about his doping hell, Manchester United, Jose Mourinho and the future.
Footballers with a mere fraction of Pogba’s profile and status are far less amiable. But this was Pogba’s chance to tell his side of a story.
He wasn’t about to pass it up.
‘We are all human, we all have feelings. I’m telling you, when that (the drug ban) happened, I truly realised what life is,’ the World Cup winner explained.
‘Paul Pogba – the famous guy – is no more. People were avoiding me.
‘I used to get invited to fashion weeks and events like that. Now they were like: “we can’t use Pogba”.
‘My friends weren’t ringing like the way they were ringing before.’
Discussion ranged from talk of his drugs ban to Manchester United, to Jose Mourinho (right)
The 31-year-old revealed that after the initial drug ban was announced certain friends stopped calling like ‘they were before’
‘When people hear doping it’s like they think you want to become the Incredible Hulk. That’s how people used to see me.
‘“He took drugs” – and public opinion means that they can say what they want.’
Not that Pogba is bitter.
The 31-year-old continued: ‘I’m totally fine with this. It’s life and I’ve realised that.
‘I’ve grown so much, I’m a different person today.
‘When you take something away that you love, you realise how much you love and appreciate it.’
Pogba was putting his boots on ahead of a training session at Juventus’ HQ in September 2023 when the club doctor approached him with the news that rocked his universe.
‘I was shocked’, he recalled.
‘They are accusing me of doping? I immediately starting thinking what did I eat? What cream did I use?.’
French midfielder Pogba returned to Juventus in 2022 after six years away at Man United
The 31-year-old was pictured at Juventus’ clash with Cagliari two days after the news of his reduced ban broke
The international played a key role in Didier Deschamps’ World Cup-winning side in 2018
Initially, there was a feeling the positive test may have been triggered by an injection administered by the club.
It quickly emerged that wasn’t the case; at the centre of the scandal was a supplement Pogba was prescribed by a doctor in the USA.
He’d taken them before but they’d never previously sparked a positive reading.
‘I had so many problems outside football and the injuries. (After leaving United) I wanted Juventus to be a reset for me,’ Pogba said.
‘And then this happens. Why me? I just wanted to play football but instead I was drowning with problems and it wasn’t ending.
‘We weren’t ready for those things. It was all coming at once. At one point you just breakdown.’
Yet, with all that said, Pogba holds his hands up. Athletes, ultimately, are responsible for what enters their body.
‘It wasn’t a mistake for me to take the supplement, I was taking a supplement that was prescribed by a professional,’ he explains.
‘My mistake, and I take responsibility for this, is not triple checking. But if you go to a doctor and they they tell you to take this two times a day, what do you do?’
Pogba revealed that he wanted his return to Juventus to be ‘a reset’ after injuries and other problems outside of football
He admits that his mistake – one which he owns – is that he did not ‘triple-check’ a supplement handed to him by a professional
Pogba has made peace with it all now. But will it taint his legacy? Pogba hopes not, but accepts people will have already made their mades up.
‘It’s part of my story, I accept it because it changed me in a good way. This is a chapter I won’t forget but other people might.
‘Yesterday people were thinking I was guilty of doing it on purpose. Now they are like “we are so happy to see you again on the pitch.” Things change.’
Pogba’s faced enough adversity in his career to handle whatever is on the horizon.
His return to Manchester United in 2016 for a world record £89million from Juventus a case in point.
Pogba never truly hit the heights he was expected to when he strode back into Old Trafford four years after first leaving for Turin.
Injuries were one factor. Similarly, so was playing out of position, particularly under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Then, infamously, there was a tempestuous relationship with Jose Mourinho to handle.
Though the 18-month ban has called a temporary halt to his career, Pogba has dealt with plenty of adversity throughout his time as a professional footballer
Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Pogba was often played out of his favoured central midfield role
The midfielder admits that his relationship with Mourinho was akin to that of ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ – with the pair ‘breaking up and making up’ regularly
‘Our relationship was like boyfriend and girlfriend, we were breaking up and making up all the time,’ Pogba confesses.
‘It started great, he was one of the reasons I went back to Manchester because I spoke to him and he convinced me to come back.
‘I don’t know why it turned into a nightmare and us fighting. Because I wasn’t fighting. I didn’t start the fight.
‘We disagreed like managers and players do sometimes. But there’s a lot of respect from me to him.
‘If I see him tomorrow it’s a big hug! But one day we will have to sit down together and discuss it.’
Mourinho’s exit in December 2018, couple by Solskajer’s arrival mid-season coincided with what Pogba believes was his best campaign in a United shirt.
But just as it appeared that Pogba’s United career was on an upward curve the midfielder has divulged for the first time that his heart simply was not in it.
‘I will tell you something I’ve never told anyone,’ Pogba teases.
‘The year Jose went and Ole came, it was my best season at United but after the last game I told Ole and Ed Woodward that I thought it was my last year and that I wanted to leave.
‘I was 27 back then, it didn’t work out the way I wanted. I gave my best but I didn’t see the club going upwards.
Pogba reveals that Mourinho was a huge part of why he came back to United, and the two won two trophies together (Carabao Cup and Europa League)
Though Solskjaer’s half-season in charge was his best for United, Pogba admitted he wanted to leave at the end of the campaign
‘Manchester City and Liverpool were better than us and they were improving. Ole said yes (to me leaving) and that he would talk to Ed.
‘My head was already that I wanted to go but I came back for pre season because I wanted to be professional.
‘I spoke to Ed to try to make a move but he blocked it. I didn’t want to play for United anymore but I had to be professional.
‘Mentally I wasn’t there and then I got the injuries.’
It’s a sliding doors moment that may still rankle with Pogba. Who knows if any of this would happened if he had left in the summer 2019.
Indeed, the very reason he visited the US wellness clinic that prescribed the pills that set the wheels in motions towards his ordeal was because he wanted to prevent his body constantly breaking down.
But after putting his career on hold, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Pogba can return to training in January and recommence competitive football in March.
The likelihood is that he will leave Juventus by mutual consent, with all parties in talks about tearing up his contract.
After being denied a move away from the Red Devils in 2019 he claims ‘mentally I wasn’t there’
The likelihood is that Pogba will leave Juventus by mutual consent with both parties in talks about tearing up his contract
‘I have goals and dreams – my dream was always to play for the national team and it is still in my head,’ added Pogba.
‘But today the future of Paul is to get back on the pitch. And show that I still have the level – a Pogba that comes back with more hunger and even more love for football – ready to give everything.
‘Football hasn’t stopped because I can’t play; players are playing, that’s life – that’s the circle.
‘All the players will say “Pogba is back I don’t want him to take my position”. That’s normal. But I have to be ready.’
World Cup 2026? You’d be a fool to bet against him.
