Former Juventus and Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba will need to keep waiting patiently to return to action. Monaco had hoped to welcome the Frenchman back to action against Angers this weekend, but the game looks to have come too soon.
Pogba has not stepped on a pitch in more than two years, having been handed a ban following a positive doping test during his time with Juventus. The ban was reduced on appeal after his offence was ruled not to have been intentional, and he moved to Monaco ahead of the 2025/26 season.
There had been some hope that a return to form might see the 2018 World Cup winner push himself into contention for the 2026 tournament after missing Qatar 2022 through injury. More than two months into the season, though, he's still waiting to make his bow.
"We expected him to be available for the next match. That is no longer the case," Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro told reporters (as translated by GFFN). "Paul had a small problem last week that will cost us at least two more weeks.
"It is the first negative episode that we have had since we started the process with him. Given how long he has been out of activity, it can happen. It isn't the end of the world; we have just postponed for two weeks to prepare him better. We hope to have him available soon."
There had been hope that Pogba might be able to feature against Tottenham in Monaco's next Champions League match, immediately after the Angers tie. The team from the principality are winless across their first two European games, with Eric Dier rescuing a late point against Manchester City after a 4-1 away loss against Club Brugge on matchday one.
That will come too soon, though, with Pogba also expected to miss out against Toulouse on October 25. The midfielder was also unable to play a single minute under Adi Hutter, the manager who brought him to Stade Louis II, with the Austrian dismissed during the October international break.
Monaco have acted quickly to appoint Hutter's successor, with Sebastien Pogocnoli taking the reins. The Belgian, who had a spell playing in the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion, arrives after leading Union SG into the Champions League.
"I think that the process and the alignment of ideas on playing principles, the hunger to work on player development, which Sébastien has shown, and all of the staff that we have around the coach and the players, is all the security that we have to reduce the risk [of moving on from Hutter]," Scuro said of the new appointment. "Of course, there is risk, but we are ready to manage the risk and build another good season."