Following an injury-stricken campaign, Paul Pogba was hoping to make it up for Juventus fans by proving his worth to the cause this term.
However, his season descended into yet another nightmare of a different sort.
The Frenchman failed an anti-doping test following the club’s season opener in Udine. He has been precautionary suspended while awaiting the final decision.
According to Tuttosport via JuventusNews24, Pogba and his legal representatives are working on securing a plea bargain with the anti-doping prosecutor Pierfilippo Laviani.
As the source explains, doping is punishable under law by a four-year ban. However, the athlete would be able to reduce the sentence by 50% if he proves that the consumption of the prohibited substance occurred unintentionally.
Therefore, the player’s defense team have been arguing that the consumption ensued inadvertently while negotiating with the prosecutor.
The source expects the 30-year-old to receive a ban between 18 and 24 months.
While this would be another major blow for a career that has been on a fast decline over the past few years, it remains the best that Pogba can hope for at the moment.
The 2018 World Cup winner enjoyed a memorable first stint in Turin between 2012 and 2016, establishing himself as one of the finest young players in the world.
This earned him a record-breaking transfer to Manchester United, but his Old Trafford return was underwhelming overall.
In 2022, Pogba once again landed in Turin as a free agent, but an early meniscus injury foretold what has panned out to be a miserable spell on all accounts.
