Paul Pogba urged to make stunning Premier League return and join Manchester United’s rivals

Paul Pogba has been urged to make a stunning Premier League return and sign for one of Manchester United’s biggest rivals.

Pogba, 31, is desperate to get his career back on track after his four-year ban for doping offences was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The French World Cup winner will be free to resume training from January 2025 and is eligible to play again in March.

Pogba returned to his former club Juventus in the summer of 2022 following a six-year spell at Manchester United, but he has only made 12 appearances since moving back to Turin.

It remains to be seen whether Juve will look to reintegrate Pogba into their first-team squad or move him on, but his compatriot Bacary Sagna wants him to return to the English top-flight.

Pogba largely underwhelmed across six difficult years at Old Trafford but Sagna believes he has much to offer a Premier League side and would be an ideal addition for Arsenal.

Arsenal have impressed in recent years under Mikel Arteta but are still bidding to win their first Premier League title since 2004.

‘The Premier League suits Paul Pogba – I would love to see him join Arsenal,’ Sagna told Paddy Power.

‘It would be great – he has experience; he loves to play with young players around him – that is when he is most efficient.

‘At the 2018 World Cup, that was when he was most efficient – he had friends around him.

‘Arsenal have a young, fresh team, and I see him performing in an Arsenal shirt. He will get love from their fans.

‘Now, he can start from scratch again – he’s had time away from football, and he’ll be back with a desire to get back into a good space and play football again.’

Manchester United made Pogba the most expensive signing in history when they resigned him for £89m in 2016, but the Frenchman – like so many other United players – struggled to produce his best form at the Theatre of Dreams.

Moves to the MLS or Saudi Arabia have been suggested as possibilities for Pogba but he is understood to be hoping to win back his place in the France squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

After his doping ban was reduced, Pogba said in a statement: ‘Finally the nightmare is over. I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again.

‘I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes.

‘I play with integrity and, although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.

‘This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.’

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