Paul Pogba’s Failed Second Juventus Stint Shouldn’t Overshadow the Brilliance of his First

Paul Pogba’s second stint with Juventus is officially over. 

The Frenchman’s contract was mutually terminated and, as of today, is a free agent, putting to an end his disastrous return to Serie A.

Of the 190 games Pogba played for Juventus, only 12 came in his second go round. Even within those 12 games, Pogba started a mere one.

In all, Pogba played a sum total of 213 minutes for the Bianconeri.

The sad reality is that at just 31, Pogba’s career at the very highest level is over. Given his injury track record and the fact that he last started two consecutive games in the dying days of his Manchester United career in the spring of 2022, it’s highly unlikely any of the big European sides will snap him up despite his free agent status.

It all appeared so different when he boarded a plane to return to Turin just over two years ago. Pogba was going back to the club and the manager that extracted the very best from him.

Max Allegri had been in charge of Juventus for Pogba’s last two seasons of his first spell in Italy, and the feeling was that Allegri knew how to maximise Pogba’s talent, even if injuries had wreaked havoc with his body during the final years of his time in Manchester.

“Paul has arrived in the right way, with will and determination to come back playing to his standard level since he hadn’t in his last season at United,” Allegri said in July 2022. “At Juventus he has basically come back home, and I think he can help us a lot since from a physical and technical point of view he is a cut above the others.”

Allegri had coaxed the very best out of Pogba in his final season in Turin — the first time — in the 2015-16 season. Then just 22-years-old, Pogba inherited Juve’s legendary No10 shirt after Carlos Tevez returned home to Argentina. 

Given the weight of the number and Pogba’s precocious age, some would’ve buckled under the pressure. Moreover, that summer also saw the departures of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal, midfielders who’d helped Pogba in his formative years at Juve and masked the deficiencies in his game. 

Pogba rose to the challenge. The added responsibility spurred him on to produce a career best of eight goals and 10 assists in Serie A. This forced United to break the British transfer record to bring him back to England.

Yet as time has played out, Pogba and United in a post-Sir Alex Ferguson landscape was simply a bad mix. Post-2013, Old Trafford was, and arguably still is, a place where world-class players go to die; a graveyard full of previously brilliant players who lose much of their lustre. Pogba was no exception.

There were moments of brilliance from Pogba in red. The four assists against Leeds in August 2021 spring to mind, but the majority of his United career played out in frustration, from fans who expected more and from Pogba who wasn’t utilised in his true position.

The return to Juve was seen as a chance to cleanse his career. It never happened.

Pogba suffered a meniscus injury weeks after after joining Juve. He went against club advise to undergo surgery in order to correct the issue, instead opting for therapy. When that failed he eventually went under the knife and didn’t make his second debut until a late cameo appearance in the Derby della Mole in late February 2023.

Pogba’s suspension and later confirmation of his doping ban put an end to his failed return to Juve. The sad truth is that Pogba’s peak was so long ago now at this stage, people forget just how good a player he was in those early years at Juve.

Pogba’s talent was so undeniable that Antonio Conte changed his system to accommodate him towards the end of 2012/13, with Juve then having one of the world’s strongest midfields in Pogba, Vidal, Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio. This is an era of Juve fans still pine for, a midfield that was a potent cocktail of elegance, power, speed and intelligence. A Swiss-army knife of a midfield that could do it all.

Pogba was able to play as a regista (even if it was a waste of his talent), or as a left-sided midfielder but with the licence to roam and be a No10 at times. During his final season at Juve, he would boss opposition players to such a degree it resembled an adult playing among kids in the school playground. 

His talent was so immense Pogba often strolled through matches in second gear, just because he could, and still made the difference. Think to his wonder volleys against Napoli, or his outrageous outside-of-the-foot pearler against Udinese, or to his long-range rockets against Sampdoria, Sassuolo, Chievo, Torino and Verona.

Think of the tricks and beguiling nature at which he floated past players. At his peak, Pogba toyed with his Serie A counterparts, and there was little they could do about it.

Hindsight is of course a wonderful thing, and the smart play would’ve been to remain in Turin, but few could’ve predicted how Pogba’s career panned out post-2016. Yet the difficulties of the past eight years shouldn’t overshadow the brilliance of his first Juve run, when he had a claim to being one of the best midfielders in the world.