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Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has not played for Italian giants Juventus since September last year and will now not take to the pitch until August 2027 after being hit with a suspension

Paul Pogba has been banned from football for four years for doping.

The former Manchester United midfielder, now with Italian giants Juventus, was provisionally suspended in September after failing a drugs test. Pogba, who will turn 31 in March, was an unused substitute against Udinese on 20 August when he tested positive for DHEA, a banned substance that boosts endogenous testosterone. A secondary sample was then counter-analysed, which also returned a positive result.

Pogba and his camp have always maintained that the taking of any prohibited substance was never intentional. His lawyers had rejected a plea deal and hoped to get their client a lighter sentence after claiming he had unwittingly ingested the drug via a supplement, thus causing the positive test.

Speaking at the time of the initial suspension, Pogba’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta, said: “What is certain is that Paul Pogba never wanted to break a rule.”

However, prosecutors did not believe Pogba’s defence, and the National Anti-Doping Tribunal has now handed Pogba the maximum punishment possible.

DHEA is classed as an anabolic androgenic steroid and Pogba’s lawyers had pointed to previous cases where athletes had claimed to have unwittingly ingested the drug via a supplement.

Pogba will be just shy of his 34th birthday when he is able to play again, in August 2027. He is expected to appeal his ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but Juventus are set to cancel his contract, having put him on the lowest possible wage since his initial suspension and his career lies in tatters.

Paul Pogba has not played for Juventus since last September.

@Mirror