Juventus star Paul Pogba in advanced talks with surprise club over January move: Reports
Juventus star Paul Pogba is in advanced talks with French club Olympic Marseille for a surprise move in the 2025 January transfer window, according to journalist Malick Traore. The latter made this revelation in a post on the social media platform X.
The Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) recently reduced the ban imposed on Pogba for testing positive for testosterone to 18 months. However, the midfielder may not wear Juventus colors again despite his earlier ban of four years has been reduced to 18 months now.
Pogba will be eligible to play from March 2025 but it has been widely reported that he and Juventus will come to a mutual termination to allow him to become a free agent and seek his future elsewhere. Several sections of the media have reported interest from many countries for Pogba.
The midfielder, known for his creativity in midfield while building up play and bringing his more attack-minded colleagues into play, was banned by CAS in September 2023 for the aforementioned offence. However, he appealed this decision, and as a result, his ban was reduced to eighteen months.
Paul Pogba returned to Juventus in the summer of 2022
Pogba moved to Juventus in a highly publicised move from Manchester United in the summer 2022. However, he was not able to do much owing to several injuries and could only play a combined 161 minutes. This also included a disciplinary issue for which manager Massimiliano Allegri dropped him from the squad.
The Frenchman was also ruled out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a knee meniscus injury, and this compounded his worries. In September 2023, he was banned after testing positive for non-endogenous testosterone following a match against Udinese on 20 August.
The 31-year-old is a World Cup winner with France, to go with four Serie A titles he won with Juventus during his first stint at the club from 2012 to 2016. He also won the UEFA Europa League with Manchester United - with whom he developed during his younger years at their famed academy.