Emmanuel Petit encourages ex-Manchester United player to make free transfer to Arsenal

Emmanuel Petit believes that Paul Pogba should consider making a surprising comeback to the Premier League by joining Arsenal.

Pogba, 31, will be keen to get his career back on track after his four-year ban for doping offences was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Frenchman, who won the World Cup in 2018, will be free to resume training from January 2025 and is eligible to play again in March.

Pogba returned to his former club Juventus in the summer of 2022 following a six-year spell at Manchester United, but has only made 12 appearances since moving back to Turin.

Petit expects Pogba to leave Juventus next summer on a free transfer and believes he can revive his career and ‘wash his name’ at Manchester United’s Premier League rivals Arsenal.

The ex-Arsenal midfielder, who also won the World Cup with France, also urged the Gunners to consider signing Pogba, claiming he would fit into Mikel Arteta’s midfield ‘perfectly’.

‘Paul Pogba will become a free transfer at 32-years-old,’ Petit told Jeffbet. ‘I can’t remember the last time I saw him smiling.

‘Pogba wants revenge, he wants to prove to himself and fans around the world that he’s not finished yet.

‘France’s team have missed him. He’s apparently working very hard to get back to match fitness. I know Pogba’s personality, I know he’ll do anything to come back on the pitch.

‘Honestly, Arsenal should 100% gamble on signing Paul Pogba. He will give everything on the pitch.

‘It will take him a few weeks to get fully fit, but he will be so eager to wash his name. There is a motivation that is priceless to a manager like Mikel Arteta.

‘Pogba fits the Arsenal midfield perfectly, he’s tall, strong and very creative. We all know how good a happy Pogba is, he needs love and to be given confidence, I think Arteta and Arsenal can offer this to him.’

Another ex-Arsenal star, Bacary Sagna, also believes the Gunners should secure a stunning deal for Pogba, who made 233 appearances for Manchester United across two spells at Old Trafford.

‘The Premier League suits Paul Pogba – I would love to see him join Arsenal,’ Sagna recently told Paddy Power.

‘It would be great – he has experience; he loves to play with young players around him – that is when he is most efficient.

‘At the 2018 World Cup, that was when he was most efficient – he had friends around him.

‘Arsenal have a young, fresh team, and I see him performing in an Arsenal shirt. He will get love from their fans.

‘Now, he can start from scratch again – he’s had time away from football, and he’ll be back with a desire to get back into a good space and play football again.’

Pogba became the most expensive signing in history when he returned to Manchester United for £89m in 2016, but he struggled to produce his best form at Old Trafford.

After his doping ban was reduced, Pogba said in a statement: ‘Finally the nightmare is over. I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again.

‘I always stated that I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes.

‘I play with integrity and, although I must accept that this is a strict liability offence, I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s judges who heard my explanation.

‘This has been a hugely distressing period in my life because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.’

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