Paul Pogba’s time at Juventus has come to an end after the Serie A club announced Friday that it had terminated the France midfielder’s contract, despite his doping ban being reduced to 18 months on appeal.
Pogba will be eligible to return to competitive football in March, following a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to reduce an initial four-year suspension handed down by the Italian anti-doping authority, NADO.
However, Juventus has opted to part ways with the 31-year-old, whose return to Turin from Manchester United in 2022 was marred by a series of on- and off-field issues.
In a statement, Juventus said that it and Pogba “have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024.”
His contract had been set to expire in 2026.
“You gave me a lot, more than what I could ever say, and I’ll always keep with me the love you showed me,” Pogba wrote to Juventus fans on social media. “You’ll always be in my heart. Good luck.”
Pogba had said in October that he was “willing to give up money to be able to play again with Juve,” an appeal that fell on deaf ears at the “Old Lady” of Italian football.
Juventus’ announcement is no surprise, as both coach Thiago Motta and sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli had repeatedly referred to Pogba in the past tense, saying that “he was a great player.”
Pogba, a World Cup winner with France in 2018, started just one match after rejoining Juventus — with whom he won four Serie A titles between 2012 and 2016 — in the summer of 2022.
He last played for Juventus at Empoli in September of last year, not long before he was provisionally suspended for testing positive for testosterone.
Doping ban
The test came after Juventus’ opening Serie A fixture of the 2022-23 season, a 3-0 win at Udinese in which Pogba didn’t even play.
He was then banned for four years by NADO in February, a sanction that put his career at risk before CAS reduced the punishment.
CAS accepted Pogba’s argument that the failed test “was the result of erroneously taking a supplement prescribed to him by a medical doctor in Florida.”
However, CAS did not completely exonerate Pogba, stating that he “was not without fault” and, as a professional football player, “should have paid greater care in the circumstances.”
During the 2022-23 season, Pogba made just 10 appearances for Juventus, mainly due to a knee injury that also ruled him out of the World Cup in Qatar, where France lost to Argentina in the final in December 2022.
He was also the victim of a case of organized extortion, for which six men, including his brother Mathias, had been ordered to stand trial.
In Pogba’s absence, Juventus switched managers from Massimiliano Allegri to Motta and brought in a host of new players as part of a rebuild.
Juventus, who finished third without Pogba, spent over 120 million euros on midfielders Teun Koopmeiners, Douglas Luiz, and Khephren Thuram in a busy summer transfer window.
The club currently sits sixth in Serie A but is only two points behind league leaders Napoli and faces AC Milan at the San Siro after the international break.