With the air-con out of action, the temperature hit unbearable levels, leaving the players drenched in sweat and fanning themselves desperately with in-flight magazines. A couple of them took out their mobile phones and started recording the bizarre scenes.
While his teammates roasted mid-air, Pogba was dealing with a different kind of waiting game. The French midfielder, who returned to Ligue 1 after inking a two-year deal with Monaco in the summer of 2025, is still searching for his first appearance in red and white. His comeback has been stalled by the need to rebuild sharpness after so long away from competitive football due to a doping ban.
Manager Adi Hutter isn’t shying away from risk, however. In a major show of faith, he has thrown both Pogba and fellow marquee signing Ansu Fatiinto Monaco’s Champions League squad, even though neither has kicked a ball for the club yet.
Pogba isn’t too far off. Training sessions suggest he is edging closer to match readiness, with whispers around the camp pointing to October as the month he could finally step back into competitive action. Monaco officials are quietly confident, and Pogba himself is said to be pushing hard behind the scenes to meet that target.
