Juventus cut Pogba's wages to £2,000 a month, then ended his contract

Paul Pogba left Manchester United when his contract expired and rejoined Juventus on a free transfer on 11 July 2022, on a contract worth £6.9 million a year with £2 million in bonuses. The deal ran to June 2026.

On 20 August 2023, after Juventus' match at Udinese, Pogba tested positive for DHEA, a banned substance. Nado Italia provisionally suspended him on 11 September; the B sample confirmed the result on 6 October. On 29 February 2024 the Tribunale Nazionale Antidoping handed him a four-year ban.

Juventus cut his pay to about £2,000 a month during the suspension. On 4 October 2024 the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban to 18 months, accepting that he took a doctor-prescribed supplement in Florida with no intent to dope, and he became eligible to return in March 2025. Juventus still terminated: the two sides agreed on 15 November 2024 to end the contract, effective 30 November, two years early.

Juventus cut Pogba's pay to £2,000 a month during his ban, then terminated his contract two years early, losing £6.9M a year in wages for two seasons.

The free transfer looked like a bargain — a world-class midfielder back where he made his name, no fee, only wages at risk. The real price was the person: the money was buying one man's body.

A doping ban is the one risk a contract cannot price: Juventus' £6.9-million-a-year bet collapsed to £2,000 a month overnight, and the bonuses died with the appearances.

Even when the ban was cut to 18 months, the club walked away: the asset had been suspended, doubted and publicly valued at £2,000 a month — the bet was over before the player was back.

The fee is not the bet — the man is. Juventus re-signed Pogba for nothing and lost two seasons of £6.9M wages to one test: when the asset is a person, the contract prices his conduct, not his talent.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport cut Pogba's ban from four years to 18 months on 4 October 2024, finding he had not intended to dope, and he became eligible to play again in March 2025. Juventus and Pogba agreed to terminate his contract on 15 November 2024, effective 30 November, two years before it was due to end. In November 2025 Pogba had returned to competitive football with Monaco after his ban ended.