Pogba says he would cut his salary if staying at Juventus is a possibility
Yesterday at 06:01 PM
The French midfielder continues his media tour in the wake of his doping ban being reduced.
After barely hearing anything from Paul Pogba for the last 12 months, we are now getting to see one of the bigger personalities to wear the Juventus colors in the last decade or two a whole lot more all of the sudden.
We know why that is: the Pogba media tour has coincided with his doping suspension being reduced from four years to just 18 months, putting the 31-year-old Frenchman in position to return training in January and to the field for competition action once again in March.
That serious of interviews continued Wednesday, with Pogba making appearances in Sky Sports in the United Kingdom as well as with fellow Frenchman (and Paris native) Julien Laurens on ESPN. Pogba has also done an extensive interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, and it is there in which he spoke openly about his future at Juventus and what he would be willing to do to stay in Turin.
"I am ready to give up money to play for Juve," Pogba said in his interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport that was released on Wednesday night in Italy. "I want to return."
Pogba entered the last two seasons as Juventus' highest-paid player with a salary of €9 million net. Once it became known he had failed a doping test following Juve's season opener against Udinese and he was provisionally suspended, that salary dropped down to the minimum figure possible of €2,000 a month.
Since his ban was reduced, Pogba — who, through his legal team, had originally asked for his suspension to be reduced to 12 months — has been seen in the stands at the Allianz Stadium during Juventus' Oct. 6 draw with Cagliari. He admitted, however, that he has not yet spoken to Juve manager Thiago Motta.
Motta and Juve director Cristiano Giuntoli, meanwhile, have briefly spoke about Pogba during their respective press availability ahead of the game with Cagliari, with both notably speaking about about the 31-year-old Frenchman in the past tense.
"I have not been able to talk to (Motta), but that moment will come," Pogba said. "I am focusing on getting ready and playing with Juve. I am currently a Juve player and that is all I have in my mind today.
"I do my talking on the pitch and then Thiago Motta can judge with his own eyes, based on what he sees. Talk is nice, but I want to play for Juve and to be the best for France, too."
Pogba found himself in what he has since called "a nightmare" after his failed doping test revealed raised levels of testosterone thanks to a substance called DHEA. Pogba maintained that he took the substance inadvertantly, and the judgement made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport
"He was a professional," Pogba said of the doctor who prescribed him the suplement that contained DHEA. "Like many players, I have a personal chef, fitness coach and physiotherapist, that was the situation in Manchester too. It wasn't about reading the label, it was given to me by a professional outside the club. But I will not repeat that mistake again, that is for sure."
"It was not my decision alone, we took that path together on the advice of doctors. I don't regret anything, that is life."
Pogba admitted during his interview with ESPN that he had thought about retiring following the initial four-year suspension, one that would have kept him out until his mid-30s and likely wiped out any remain prime years of his career.
"It has been a very difficult year," Pogba said, "but the thing that hurt the most was going past the stadium and the Continassa training ground every day to take my kids to school, without being able to go in to train or play with Juventus. I felt like a caged lion. At one point I wanted to leave Italy with my family, because the situation hurt too much."
While rumors continue to swirl about Juventus trying to agree to a contract termination with Pogba, a sign the club was ready to move on happened right before the 2024-25 season started when they gave the No. 10 to Turkish teenager Kenan Yildiz.
As much as the club maintained their stance on letting the entire appeals process play out with CAS, giving the No. 10 jersey was viewed as both something for the marketing front as well as a sign that Juve wanted to move on from Pogba, who came back to Turin in the summer of 2022.
"It is not my number, it is Juve's number," Pogba said. "When I returned to Manchester United in 2016, it's not like I took the 10 with me. I told Kenan he has talent and he deserves that shirt. I could tell from the first training sessions that he was different. Juventus did well to focus on the present, as I had a four-year ban, so of course they gave the 10 to Kenan."
