Paul Pogba broke down in tears as he signed a two-year contract with Monaco that sealed a return to competitive football following a doping suspension.
The former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder, 32, was provisionally suspended after being randomly tested following Juventus’ opening game of the 2023-24 season against Udinese.
He later received a four-year ban which was cut to 18 months in October following an appeal.
An emotional Pogba said “thanks for the trust” after putting pen to paper on the Monaco deal, and capped his own announcement video with the words “La renaissance”, seemingly promising fans a career revival.
He agreed a mutual termination of his contract with Juventus in November and has been able to restart his career since March as a free agent.
It will be the first time the France World Cup winner has played in Ligue 1 in his career.
In the final judgement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) it was confirmed Pogba inadvertently took dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a substance which boosts testosterone and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) banned list.
Crucially, however, the ruling stated DHEA only has an effect on females.
Pogba started out at Manchester United before moving to Juventus, where he won Serie A in each of his first four seasons – including two Doubles.
He then returned to Old Trafford for a world-record £89m in 2016, and in his first season won the Europa League and FA Cup.
Pogba, who has 91 caps for France, then helped Les Bleus to 2018 World Cup glory, scoring in the final as they beat Croatia 4-2 in Russia.
Injuries and a lack of form interrupted his final three seasons at Manchester United, and he failed to excel on his return as a free agent to Juve.