Pogba Faces New Injury Setback in Monaco Training Camp

The quiet of AS Monaco’s pre-season session at St George’s Park was shattered by a single cry.

In the middle of a routine passing drill, Paul Pogba went down. The 2018 World Cup winner collapsed to the turf, his session over in an instant, and with it another step backwards in a spell that has never really caught fire in the Principality.

Medical staff rushed in. Two members of the Monaco backroom team helped him off the pitch, his team-mates looking on, visibly concerned. No dramatics, no stretcher. Just the heavy, familiar walk of a player who knows this story far too well.

This setback comes at the worst possible moment for Pogba and for Monaco. The 33-year-old had only just rejoined full group training after a long, fragmented period wrecked by physical problems. Up to now, he had managed only a brief appearance in pre-season, a tentative glimpse of the midfielder Monaco hoped they had signed.

Head coach Filipe Luís had recently spoken with clear optimism about finally reintegrating the experienced Frenchman into his plans. Pogba’s presence, his range of passing, his personality in the dressing room – all of it was seen as a potential asset as Monaco sharpened their preparations for the new Ligue 1 campaign.

The pressure finally told in another way. Just as he seemed ready to step back into the rhythm of competitive football, his body failed him again.

For Monaco’s hierarchy, the timing is brutal. Club officials had already underlined that this pre-season would act as a decisive audit of Pogba’s long-term future at the club. They wanted to see if his body could withstand the demands of a full campaign, if he could deliver consistency rather than cameos.

Those answers now hinge on medical scans. The staff will pore over the results to determine the true extent of the damage and how long he might be missing this time. Until then, there is only an anxious wait – for the player, for the coach, for a squad that had started to picture him back at the heart of midfield.

The immediate consequence is clear: Monaco must plan without one of their most high-profile names. With competitive fixtures looming, the coaching staff are forced to revisit their midfield rotation, to test depth that was already under scrutiny before Pogba’s latest problem.

Inside the camp, the priority is straightforward but emotionally draining – support him through yet another rehabilitation, another lonely stretch of gym work and treatment rooms while the rest of the squad builds towards the season.

Whether this proves to be a brief scare or the start of another prolonged absence will shape not only Pogba’s role, but potentially his entire Monaco chapter. At 33, with every injury carrying a little more weight than the last, the question now is simple and unforgiving: how many more chances will his body give him?