Analysis: Excitement machine Paul Pogba ready to reignite his career at AS Monaco

After plenty of speculation, Paul Pogba is set to make his long-awaited return to professional football, and for the first time, in France. The former Juventus and Manchester United ace has reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with AS Monaco, marking a new chapter in his career and a long-anticipated debut in Ligue 1.

At 32, Pogba is finally poised to feature in his home country’s top flight, following an enforced 18-month absence from the game. Reports from Le Parisien and L’Équipe confirm that the French international will join the Principality club this summer, with an official announcement expected in the coming days. Pogba is scheduled to arrive in July, as Monaco prepares to welcome one of France’s most recognisable footballing talents.

A dynamic, physical, athletic and versatile midfielder, who’s equally effective at linking defence and attack and using his physicality to drive his team forward, there’s so much to get excited about his true box-to-box presence, as he contributes brilliantly across all phases of the game.

“We’ve always said Paul Pogba can do everything, he can play wide, in central midfield, create chances and score goals,” insisted Ole Gunnar Solskjær when he was in charge at Man Utd.

The 2018 World Cup winner especially thrives when given freedom and offensive responsibility, and with the superstar set to be a dominant driving force for Adi Hutter’s Monaco, expect him to be a huge asset in breathing life into their attack.

Boasting exquisite technical quality, which means he’s able to create game-changing moments at will with ingenuous pieces of skill, sublime finishes and wicked passes, he’s an absolute joy to watch in possession.

Nigh on impossible to stop when in full flow on the dribble, Pogba’s crisp first touch, slick ball control and handy array of manoeuvres to outfox his markers, including step-overs, shimmies and clever changes of pace and direction, make him an unpredictable and decisive operator. Elite at adjusting his posture before receiving possession, he gets his body shape spot on to inherit the ball in preferable forward-facing postures to continue the momentum of attacks.

Extremely progressive in his distribution, the classy Pogba’s always looking to hit vertical line-breaking passes, both in the air and on the ground, to unbalance his opponents. Full of confidence and never afraid to attempt expansive deliveries, he backs himself to pinpoint teammates in dangerous areas to add impetus into offensive passages. Weighting his passes nicely and executing them with conviction, his remarkable range sees him excel when partaking in intricate link play, plus when hitting long, short and medium-length passes.

Furthermore, his brilliant set-piece striking and shooting prowess duly amplify his danger going forward. 

Although he occasionally loses possession cheaply when forcing the play, the upside of his ambition far outweighs the drawbacks.

Enormously powerful and rapid across the turf, his supreme balance and press resistance constantly serve him well too, enabling him to ride challenges and win fouls in advantageous zones. Not only is he hard to outmuscle on the carry and when holding the ball up, but he’s also a significant aerial weapon, where the towering 191 cm midfielder, who weighs a solid 84 kg and has an impressive leap, uses his edge here to win headed duels and increase his goal threat.

“He’s a talented player. He can shoot with both feet, pass the ball with both feet and you don’t realise how big he is. Physically, he’s immense, he’s strong, he’s quick and he’s got everything,” former Red Devils maestro Ryan Giggs explained.

An underrated reader of the game and an intelligent identifier of space, Pogba consistently demonstrates a coveted ability to find openings and separate himself from trackers, which enhances his worth immensely. 

One particularly interesting pattern has been his tendency to drop into the half-spaces over the years, which gives him a clearer platform and whole field of view to dictate play outside of congested central zones. With more time and space, the quality of his decision-making and execution ensures he can wreak havoc in such situations.

From these deeper locations, he’s displayed a real knack for launching raking diagonal balls to the far side to feed wingers or full-backs in ideal 1v1 scenarios. Also valuable is his capability to release attackers with perfectly weighted lofted through balls behind the defence.

His sense of timing and awareness in relation to the ball, his colleagues, foes and nearby space notably means he creates vital positional, numerical and qualitative superiorities to help bypass opposition structures. 

What’s more, his penetrative bursts into the box escalate his menace, for his capacity to arrive late and avoid detection regularly sees him be in the right place at the right time to latch onto crosses and cutbacks.

Even when not directly involved, his influence remains, for Pogba often pins markers or drags them away from key areas to manufacture space or open passing lanes for others. In addition, his coordinated movements and smart rotations with teammates frequently destabilise defensive shapes to give his side another method to unlock stopping setups.

Forever scanning his surroundings, how he identifies and exploits vacant spaces by drifting in and out of different opponents’ designated zones of operation is crucial as well. This movement creates hesitation over who should track him, allowing him to find pockets of space to receive the ball, with the indecision he generates compounding issues for adversaries.

While Pogba’s defensive output has often come in for criticism, specifically his tracking back, there’s no doubting he can be an integral presence in his compartment too, with his proficiency at triumphing in duels, breaking up play and how he uses his long legs and arms to disrupt rivals all important strings to his bow.

Destined to thrive under Hutter’s expert tutelage and within his defined system, observing how Pogba adapts will be unmissable.

“Pogba is a pure diamond. He has the ability to make the very complex appear so simple. Before watching Pogba, I had only observed four people with whom I had played like that: Juan Roman Riquelme at Villarreal, Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero at Juventus and Francesco Totti for Italy. There are some midfielders who define an era,” Juventus legend Alessio Tacchinardi stated.

Revitalised, happy to be back and ready for the challenge ahead, his signing is a major statement of intent from ASM, with this injection of star power set to boost their ambitions for silverware as they prepare for a demanding season in both the Champions League and domestic competitions.

Excitement and entertainment are guaranteed with Pogba coming to the Principality, as the complete and free-spirited showman’s primed to light up French and European football in the forthcoming campaign.