Paul Pogba debut in sight! Monaco boss offers optimistic update on French star ahead of Champions League clash with Tottenham

Pogba has resumed his career at Monaco after returning after a long time on the sidelines due to a doping ban. The midfielder saw his initial ban reduced from four years to 18 months and opted to resume his career with the French side after being released by Juventus. Pogba is still waiting to make his first competitive appearance for his new club, as a debut pencilled in for Monaco's clash against Angers on October 18th had to be postponed after he suffered a minor thigh strain in training. Yet Pogba seems to be recovering quickly from his latest injury setback and is now back in training. The hope is that the World Cup winner will now be able to make his long-awaited debut for the club shortly. 

Pogba will not feature in Monaco's next game against Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday but may not have too much longer to wait. New boss Pocognoli, who has just taken over from Adi Hutter, was quizzed on the midfielder ahead of the game and had an optimistic update to share.

"Paul is training but not fully," he told reporters. "I think the process for Paul is a process to make everything step by step. [On Monday] he joined with the group for the first time under my coaching. He was smiling, he was enjoying and interacting with the players. For me, this is the first step and this step can take days, can take two to three weeks and then we can build on this through performance and the consistency. So, yeah, that is the first step and here we are. That is the situation, but I am very pleased, for sure, to see him on the pitch."

Pogba has had to be patient but has been willing to take things slowly at Monaco. He admitted when he joined the club that he would need time to get ready to return to elite football after such a long time out of the game.

"I am a determined person, who wants to come back and who wants to enjoy myself on the pitch again especially, because that is what I miss the most. The objective is therefore to make my return to the highest level while taking the time necessary, and being patient," he told the club's media. "My daily life during these two years has been that of a very present dad (smiles)! I would take my kids to school, then I would go to training… then I would pick them up from school (smiles). 

"So I spent a lot of time with my family and training. Whenever I traveled, I would take my fitness coach with me to stay fit and miss as few sessions as possible. Because I always had this positive thought in mind, that I could return to the field at any time. Of course, there were moments of doubt, but I always wanted to look forward and towards the future. And looking at my kids, I told myself that I wanted them to see me play on the field! I dream of them celebrating one of my goals with a dab (his signature move, editor’s note)! That’s what pushed me to train, to maintain this discipline. Today I am very happy to be at AS Monaco and to return to the job I love!"

Pogba will continue to train with Monaco and will hope to avoid any more niggles. The midfielder is certainly in Pocognoli's thoughts and he could hand the former Manchester United man a debut in the coming weeks. Monaco return to Ligue 1 action on Saturday against Toulouse and then go on to play Nantes and Paris FC before another Champions League game against Bodo/Glimt.