Juventus boss Thiago Motta breaks silence on 'great player' Paul Pogba's future after doping ban reduced to 18 months

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the first opportunity to address Pogba's doping ban being reduced on appeal, Motta explained that Juventus will have to take stock of the player and his level after such a long time out of football.

Pogba hasn't played since September 2023 after failing a drugs test, which led to him being issued with a four-year ban. That was dropped to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday, allowing Pogba to resume training in January and be eligible for match selection come March. Due to a string of injuries blighting his first season back with Juventus, Pogba has only started one game of football in the last two and a half years. The solitary start during that time - against Cremonese in May 2023 - lasted just 24 minutes because of an injury setback.

Motta sad: "On Paul Pogba, the club will evaluate what to do. As for me, Pogba has been a great player, who hasn't played for a long time. Now I'm focused on tomorrow's game and everything else doesn't matter much to me at this moment."

Juventus have learned to cope without Pogba, enjoying their best season in four years in 2023-24. Having not even been allowed to train at the club whilst banned, he has to be make sure he is working hard on his fitness already to prepare for January when he can rejoin his team-mates. Due to turn 32 four days after the ban ends, if Pogba can't bounce back quickly, his career at a top club is probably over.