Pogba hungry to have his football cake after doping ban

French international Paul Pogba said Monday he was hungry to return to football after his doping ban was last week reduced from four years to 18 months.

"Football is the strawberry cake that was taken out of my mouth," Pogba told L'Equipe television in an interview from the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris.

Pogba, who is under contract with Italian giants Juventus until 2026, will be able to return to competitive football from March 11 next year, four days before his 32nd birthday.

Paul Pogba could become a free agent in 2025 after his four-year doping ban was reduced to 18 months 👀 pic.twitter.com/nxBBW2eYKJ

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 14, 2024

Capped 91 times for France, Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August 2023 after a match between Juventus and Udinese in Italy.

He was provisionally suspended in September of the same year, and then banned for four years by the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal the following February.

Pogba's representatives said the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.

At the beginning of October, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced this sanction to 18 months.

"The nightmare is over," said Pogba, adding he was "really looking forward to coming back".

Asked about a possible arrival in Ligue 1, Pogba, who has never played in the French league during his senior career, responded: "why not?"

A key figure when France won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Pogba collected four Serie A titles in his first stint at Juventus but had a string of problems, on and off the pitch, after his 2022 return from Manchester United.

He was also the victim of an alleged organised extortion, for which six men, including his brother Mathias, were last month ordered to stand trial.