Paul Pogba, Eric Dier, and Ansu Fati were unveiled as new AS Monaco players on Thursday. The return of Pogba, a 2018 World Champion, was highly anticipated as the eyes of the footballing world fixed on the Principality club.
Around 50 journalists from France, England, and Italy descended on the Principality club’s performance centre in La Turbie on Thursday to catch a glimpse of Pogba, very much the headline act of the highly-anticipated presentation day.
Everyone would have to wait to get a glimpse of the Frenchman, who was not involved in first-team training in the morning. Dier, meanwhile, trained individually, whilst Fati was involved with the first-team, albeit not for the entirety of the session.
Dier kicked-off procedings in the early afternoon. “It is a new experience for me. I have made the best decision for myself,” began the former Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich man. He added, “I am very excited by the offer and what they have been doing here. That was everything that I needed and I made a decision that I was very happy with.”
Dier sets sights on England return
The Englishman, who hasn’t represented the Three Lions since the 2022 World Cup, announced another ambition in the wake of his move to Les Monégasques. “It is always my objective to be in the national team. I have 49 caps, it would be nice to have 50. This annoys me a little bit (laughs). It is an objective of mine but you just need to play well for your club,” he said.
Simply playing is the objective for Fati, whose loan move from Barcelona was officialised on 1st July. The Spaniard was touted as the next big thing when he broke through at Barça, however, his progress has stalled in recent seasons.
A difficult loan spell at Brighton in 2023/24 failed to get his career back on-track and injuries limited him to just 11 games last season. “I am fighting to get back to my best level and I am here to try to do that,” said Fati.
“I think that change is good! I want to thank the club where I grew up, Barça. It was a great experience at Brighton, too, even if others think differently. I had an injury and I couldn’t be consistent. I want to bring that [consistency] here,” he added.
Monaco have option to make Fati move permanent
His loan move includes the option to make the deal permanent for a reported €11m, as Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro dismissed any suggestions that this was a “risky” transfer. “I don’t see any bigger risk than any other signing,” said the Brazilian.
Then came the headline act, Pogba. The auditorium at Monaco’s performance centre fell deafly silent as he entered the room and until, in his first words to the press since returning to the professsional game, he evoked the emotional scenes that marked the signing of his contract.
“As you saw, there were a lot of emotions. It is very rare to see me cry like that so I hope you enjoyed it,” he joked, referencing a viral video in which he cried while putting pen-to-paper on a two-year deal. “There were so many images that came into my mind. We know the doping story, my injury… eveything came back to me during the signing and I couldn’t hold back. It was a moment of joy!”
Pogba returns following doping ban
Pogba has been allowed to return to football since March and the expiry of his doping ban, which came into effect in September 2023. The initial four-year ban was reduced to 18 months on appeal.
But in the past three years, the Frenchman has had to contend with plenty of other issues on and off the pitch. His return to Juventus back in 2022 was scuppered by injuries. He played just over 200 minutes in his first season back at the club.
There was also the kidnapping in March 2022 as part of an organised extortion attempt, involving his own brother, Mathias.
It was Mathias who then attempted to defame his brother just months later, claiming that La Pioche had used a marabout to cast a spell on Kylian Mbappé ahead of Manchester United’s Champions League encounter against PSG back in 2019. The marabout in question and Pogba have both denied the claim, although the latter did admit to consulting the former in order to help with his continued injury issues.
‘I hope to be even better than before’ – Pogba
Pogba is now looking forward. “I’ve spoken to people who advised me to live in the moment, live day by day and not think about things that have already happened,” said the Frenchman.
He is now desperate to return. “I feel like a kid that has signed his first professional contract,” added Pogba. The 32-year-old is looking to turn back the clock. “I hope to be even better than before because I have more desire. Here, I have everything to become a big player again,” he said.
“We are pretty confident that Paul can bring a lot,” said Scuro. However, not in the short-term, as he later revealed.
Monaco unveil roadmap for Pogba return
Pogba said that he was “motivated” to play against his formative club, Le Havre, on the opening day of the Ligue 1 season. However, that will not become a reality. “I can guarantee you that he won’t be on the pitch against Le Havre […] I am here to be realistic and to be honest. We expect a three-month process,” said Scuro. A return around the end of September/ start of October is therefore envisaged, all being well.
With three signings secured, Scuro added that focus would now turn towards sales. “We haven’t spent for the moment. Targeting elite players who could come without too much investment was an objective, but to invest more, we will also need to sell and generate more money,” said the Monaco CEO.
Monaco target goalkeeper signing
Maghnes Akliouche, present at first-team training on Thursday, is one of the players linked with a move away from the Principality club. The likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, PSG, and Bayer Leverkusen have been linked with the France youth international.
“It is normal that Maghnes is on the lists of the top clubs. We have our conditions, though. When this is the game, we are here to protect ourselves. He can stay or they can go – that is relevant to all players,” said Scuro.
Should there be outgoings, it would provide funds for Monaco to secure one of their major objectives – a new goalkeeper. “We are working on it,” confirmed Scuro.
Monaco have already made some big moves during the current window, however, ones which will certainly bolster the profile of the club both in France and abroad, but ones which, it is hoped will also raise the standard of the squad as they look to secure another podium finish next season.
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Photo credit: Monaco Life / Luke Entwistle
