‘Monaco need to build a team around Paul Pogba’ – former manager Claude Puel | OneFootball

The centre of the attention of the transfer window moves to the Principality of Monaco as Paul Pogba (32) looks set to arrive at AS Monaco, with Le Parisien and Foot Mercato reporting last night that the 2018 World Cup winner is set to sign a two-year deal at the club. With the former Manchester United and Juventus player set to arrive in Ligue 1 for the first time in his professional career, former Monaco and Nice manager Claude Puel urged Les Monégasques to construct a team around Pogba for the upcoming season in an interview with L’Équipe.Ten years ago, Claude Puel took a risk. Hatem Ben Arfa, without a club for six months after a bitter end to his time in England, arrived in Nice in search of redemption. In a team designed entirely around him, Ben Arfa delivered the best season of his career – 17 goals, 6 assists, and a fourth-place Ligue 1 finish. Now, Puel sees echoes of that comeback story in Paul Pogba’s imminent arrival at Monaco.“Hatem was underperforming because he had leaned too heavily on his raw ability. Paul, meanwhile, was at the top of his game until injuries and a doping ban derailed everything.”Monaco “must do the same”, insists the former Lyon and Saint-Étienne manager. The challenge for Pogba, 32, isn’t technical – “we don’t need to teach him how to pass” – but physical and psychological. “It’s about getting the body to suffer again. You can’t rush it, but you have to stay close to the player, talk to him, guide him.”“Like Hatem, he’s a unique player, and Monaco will need to build a team around him. ASM can do that kind of thing. I don’t think it would be as easy at somewhere like Paris, even though PSG now has a stronger team spirit.”GFFN | George Boxall