Six well-known stars who revived their career in Ligue 1: Paul Pogba next?
Paul Pogba is reportedly on the verge of signing for Monaco and hopes to become the latest star to revive their career in Ligue 1.
The Frenchman’s debut season at Juventus was hampered by injuries and he subsequently tested positive for a banned substance, seeing him sidelined for the last two years during a lengthy appeals process.
Here are six players who revived their careers in Ligue 1. Pogba can take inspiration from this lot.
Hatem Ben Arfa
One of the most entertaining mavericks of the Barclays era on his day, Ben Arfa’s career hit rock bottom with four listless months on loan to Steve Bruce’s relegation-doomed Hull City in 2014-15.
Nothing sums up his sheer lack of interest at the KC Stadium than a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United in which he infamously covered less distance than Tigers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
He subsequently spent six months out of the game after parent club Newcastle United terminated his contract.
A move to Nice had been scuppered by FIFA’s rule of only allowing a player to represent two clubs in one season, but he eventually joined them in the summer.
“Even if Real Madrid had called at that moment, my mind was made up,” Ben Arfa said.
“There are people here who trust me, who do not judge me as some people want to judge me through the press.”
Going home proved to be a masterstroke. Fresh from the worst year of his career, Ben Arfa produced his best.
He notched 17 goals and six assists during his one season in the French Riviera, which earned him a move to PSG.
Lassana Diarra
The midfielder spent two eyebrow-raising years out in the footballing wilderness when he departed Real Madrid in 2012.
First he made a deadline-day switch to Anzhi Makhachkala (remember them?) before going to their Russian Premier League rivals Lokomotiv Moscow.
A bitter legal dispute, with Diarra ordered to pay back €10million for breach of contract, remains ongoing to this day.
After leaving Russia, Diarra reminded everybody of his existence at Marseille.
He was among the best players in the French top flight in the 2015-16 campaign, showing enough about himself to catch the eye of PSG and see out his playing days as a fringe player with the perennial champions.
Radamel Falcao
Remember Falcao’s season on loan at Manchester United? Us neither.
Remember Falcao’s season on loan at Chelsea? Us neither.
One of the most devastating strikers in his younger days at Porto and Atletico Madrid, Falcao’s big-money move to Monaco was severely hampered by an ACL injury in his debut season.
It took a long time for the Colombian to recover what once made him so special, and you began to doubt he’d ever be effective again after his two damp squib seasons in the Premier League.
Falcao suddenly burst into life again after returning to his parent club in 2016. Made club captain by coach Leonardo Jardim, El Tigre repaid that faith in spades by firing Le Roche to an unlikely Ligue 1 title.
He scored 30 goals in all competitions that year, in which Monaco also enjoyed a memorable run to the Champions League semi-finals.
Mario Balotelli
The loveably eccentric Italian’s career hit the rocks with an ill-fated move to Liverpool in 2014.
He actually boasted a decent goalscoring record for AC Milan, but Luis Suarez’s replacement he was not.
A loan return to the San Siro amounted to just one Serie A goal for the Rossoneri in 2015-16 as Liverpool’s hopes of protecting their asset’s value plummeted.
Jurgen Klopp had no plans to reintegrate Balotelli, who joined Nice on a free transfer on the final day of the transfer window.
The year after Ben Arfa rekindled his career, Nice repeated the trick with Balotelli.
The striker scored a career-best 15 league goals in his debut season, having set the tone with a brace in a 3-2 victory over local rivals Marseille on his debut.
And he bettered that in year two, notching 18 goals in Ligue 1 and 26 in all competitions.
Joe Cole
“I was coming off the back of a season with Liverpool where I didn’t get to play much,” Cole recalled in an interview with L’Equipe of his year-long loan at Lille.
It’s true that some Premier League clubs wanted me on loan, but to be honest they didn’t excite me. I wanted a new experience.”
The former England international signed for the reigning Ligue 1 champions in 2011, fresh from a nightmare spell at banter-era Liverpool.
He notched one of the best assists you’ll ever see on his debut, setting the tone for a campaign that was by a considerable margin the best of his post-Chelsea career.
“I loved the experience,” Cole added.
“I loved the city of Lille and the squad of players who were over there. I spoke very bad French, their English was not so good, but we managed to understand each other [laughs].
“To be playing alongside such brilliant players as Eden Hazard and Dimitri Payet was a real pleasure.
“Looking back, I tell myself we could have been champions if we hadn’t lost Moussa Sow in January. Because after he left we had more trouble converting our chances.”
READ: When Joe Cole, Eden Hazard & Dimitri Payet lived out my football wet dream
Memphis Depay
Brought in as one of the pillars of Manchester United’s ill-fated project under his Dutch compatriot Louis van Gaal, Memphis never got going at Old Trafford and was subsequently frozen out by Jose Mourinho.
“During that time I lost it,” he later reflected in his autobiography.
“After training, I went home and didn’t want to see anybody. That was mentally a very bad period. And it got worse every day.
“For the first time, I lost the joy in playing football. The most beautiful thing in my whole life, football, gave me a very sad feeling. The frustration grew by the day and I didn’t know how to change that.”
United cut their losses and sold the winger to Lyon for less than half what they originally paid, which turned out to be a bargain for the Ligue 1 side.
He notched 76 goals and 55 assists in 178 appearances for Lyon, in what was surely the best, most consistent stint of his club career.
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