A week after learning that Paul Pogba’s initial four-year suspension for doping was reduced to 18 months, the Juventus Turin midfielder gave an interview to RMC Sport this Wednesday. After long months of hardship, the French international says more about his future at club and national level.
Paul, tell us a little bit about your state of mind today after everything that happened, but especially after this reduced sentence?
Very happy, relieved too. And it also proves that the truth always comes out. So, it’s a good time for my family and me.
How have you lived these last few months? We imagine that when this four-year suspension fell, when there was all this history, there must have been moments of doubt too?
It was a shock for my family and me, it took a toll on me mentally too. So you sit down and start thinking. You say to yourself “What am I going to do tomorrow? Is football over? Isn’t it over? What’s going to happen?” It’s true that it was a really difficult period where you had to be patient, where you had to have the faith and the positivity to say to yourself “we continue and things will turn around, it will be positive because I know that I am innocent”, we will say. Four years was a lot and it wasn’t fair. So we have to keep our heads held high and continue to live. I am a husband, I am a father too. I also have my role at home.
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Do you have to be mentally strong to get through it all, to get back up, to overcome obstacles?
Of course, because you can collapse. You can get up and say to yourself: “I’m stopping everything.” Because there was a lot of criticism, my image was tarnished with previous stories, so a lot happened. It was a flood of drama and bad news. But we have faith and when you have faith, you stay faithful to the most high and then you continue, you have to stay strong. As I said, there is my wife, my children. I have to be there for them too. And it was faith that gave me the strength to stand.
Did you at one point say to yourself that maybe you wouldn’t play football anymore, that maybe it was over? Taking four years, at 31, is that the end?
It’s true that it came to mind. I was in a period of uncertainty. You don’t even know what’s going to happen the next day. You are waiting. You have to train, you have to stay fit. At the same time, you say to yourself: “What does the club think?” But you can’t be in contact with them too much. So you don’t really know what you should do. You just have to wait until someone calls you and tells you that there is a trial, that you will sit down and that you can explain yourself. That was it for a year, that’s how it was. It was very hard to manage. Those were moments where you say to yourself “when does this end?”
And now that there is this release, now that you know that you will be able to play again from January, and then in official competition from March, what is the future of Paul Pogba in this short term? ? You are still under contract with Juventus. Have you ever discussed what will happen? Do you know what their plans are for you?
No, for the moment no. My focus today is to train, stay fit, prepare for January. That’s it today. With Juve, of course, we will talk about it in the coming weeks. But for now, I am still under contract with Juventus. My wish is just to come back, get back on the field and do what I love most in the world.
So play. Play at Juve, play elsewhere, who cares? It’s finding a competitive club, right? Is it getting back into competition?
No, it’s really training, training with teammates, being on the pitch, getting back to that footballing life.
Is that what you missed the most?
Of course, that’s what I want: to start again. For a year, or more, it was as if I was no longer a footballer, it was as if my career had stopped. I was watching, I was following (what was said about him), it was no longer Paul Pogba the footballer and people were talking about me in the past tense. And that’s what’s quite hard when people think it’s over. But it’s also a determination. I say to myself now “I want to come back”. I have to come back strong.
Will it be a new Paul Pogba that we will see on the pitch?
Yes, it’s certain that it will be a new Paul Pogba with a different mentality, who will appreciate it much more, whether in training, on the football fields, recovery… We have to appreciate it because it can end tomorrow. And when you realize that, you don’t see life the same way.
We asked you about your future at Juve, but we know that Ligue 1 needs stars, PSG needs stars, OM needs stars too…
I’ll repeat myself. I am still under contract with Juventus, so talking with other clubs is prohibited. Today, as I said, my focus is on training, being fit, and just being on the pitch. After the rest, we’ll see what the future tells us.
When you play again, whether in Italy or elsewhere, there is also the French team which is something very important for you. Bringing back this jersey one day, is that also one of the objectives in this new career of Paul Pogba?
Of course, it’s a goal. It has always been a dream for me to play for the France team. It’s been years since I left. You have to be ready for that too. There are players, very, very good players who are in this position. I have to deserve this place again. And I will do everything possible to come back, of course. If it can help the team and if it’s a plus, why not? But you have to earn this place, of course.
Coach Didier Deschamps was very present during your suspension, during these long months. Is this important to you too? Is he someone who mattered a lot in your career, who still matters a lot in your career today?
Of course, it’s always nice when you see that your coach also supports you off the field. He was present for doping, but also for many other extra-sporting problems. I also like to ask the coach for advice so we have this relationship, where I can send a message during the holidays, I can call him and ask him for advice, it’s always good and important to have this relationship. .
You have already discussed perhaps a possible return, if you find your best level?
No, but the coach was one of the first I told about the doping (reduction of sentence, editor’s note). He was very happy for me of course. And there, he was my coach. He told me: ‘Paul, you have to work, you have to work. When I tell you to work, it means you have to redouble your efforts.’ And I agree with him, I know about it. He said to me: ‘You had this chance, now it’s work, work, work.’ And he’s absolutely right. That’s what I like, this frankness.
When you come back, there will no longer be one of your “brothers”, Antoine Griezmann, who has decided to retire internationally. How did you experience it, what message do you want to convey to him?
Ah my Grizou, it was sad for all French people, all fans of football and the French team. Plus he’s not that old and above all he was an executive. We lost an executive from the France team. He has his own reasons, and we can never take away what he did for the France team. And I told him, I spoke to him on the phone yesterday. And I told him: ‘You were one of the players who put this France team back on top. So a big thank you again for that my Grizou.’
And he too, Antoine Griezmann, was important to you in these moments of doubt?
Of course, we talked about it. He also had a difficult time when he was at Barcelona. So, we have this relationship where we sent each other messages of support. And there, I tried to make him laugh. Of course, it’s always good to have a teammate who sends you messages and supports you.
And for the French supporters, those who also supported you on the networks, those you can meet in the street. What message do you have for them too?
I think it was the French supporters who supported me the most, so a big thank you for that, it really touched me and I just hope to get back to my best level and give pleasure to all these supporters because it That’s what football is for me, giving people pleasure when they come to watch a match.
Comments collected by Julien Laurens
