'The plan isn't working out' - Monaco deliver bleak Paul Pogba update after injury setback for 'frustrated' midfielder

It looked like Pogba had managed to put a dark chapter of his career to bed after signing for Monaco, being greeted with much fanfare by the club's supporters after his move was made official. Despite not having played in a competitive fixture since September 2023, which was his last game for previous team Juventus, hopes were high that the 32-year-old could recapture the form from earlier in his career that made him such a unique talent.

However, it has not worked out that way so far. Pogba has only played in three Ligue 1 matches to this point in the 2025-26 season, totalling just 30 minutes of game time with his last outing being in December. He is currently sidelined with a calf problem and won't feature in Monaco's next fixture, which comes against Lorient on Friday night, and his faint hopes of making France's squad for the upcoming 2026 World Cup seem to be slipping away.

An in-form Pogba would make a big difference for Monaco right now. Les Rouges et Blancs are down in ninth in France's top division, having lost six of their last seven league games, and are precariously positioned in the Champions League table at 19th.

There is clearly frustration on Monaco's side, with CEO Thiago Scuro admitting the club has had to deal with "challenges" in order to get Pogba back to full fitness and ready to contribute on the pitch.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Scuro said: "Clearly, the programme for Paul is not working as we expected in the beginning. We are working hard to find solutions for him. 

"Personally, he is disturbed. The plan is always changing according to the situations that we face. A few small injuries in different parts of the body are bringing challenges to the process. We keep working to try to deliver what we agreed on in the summer when he arrived. This is our commitment."

His fitness issues have thrown Pogba's future at Monaco into doubt. There's every chance the club could look to part ways with the midfielder in the summer, though Scuro revealed there are complexities in Pogba's contract that make the topic not worth discussing at the moment.

He added: "There are lots of things in Paul’s contract that are much different to what people think. I don’t think that it is helpful to disclose anything. The relationship is honest. We have to keep running with the plan, even though the plan has become longer.

"You always have two possibilities: one that this works well and he’ll be back on the pitch soon, and he’ll be able to make an impact, [or] if it doesn’t work, for sure, the parties can sit down in the summer and have another discussion about where we go. This isn’t the moment to discuss it because we are working on trying to find the solution."

Pogba will be desperate to get fit soon in his fanciful bid to make France's World Cup squad. The last of his 91 international appearances for Les Bleus came in 2022, though he was unable to play in that year's World Cup in Qatar after having knee surgery.

He was recently handed the Best Comeback Award at the Globe Soccer Awards, where he thanked his family for their support during a testing time for him personally, which included being targeted by a blackmail operation.

If he were able to shake off his calf problem and get match fit by the end of January, Pogba could get the chance to play against former club Juventus in Monaco's final league phase game in the Champions League.