Retired Premier League player urges Paul Pogba to 'find his love for the game' when deciding on next club

Paul Pogba is doing the right thing by taking his time to decide his next club, according to Colin Kazim-Richards.

Pogba has not played a game since 2023, when he was banned due to failing a drug test. Originally set to serve a four-year ban, Pogba later saw the punishment reduced to 18 months, meaning he has been eligible to play for a club since March of this year.

However, the World Cup winner has not signed with a club after reaching a mutual agreement to terminate his previous contract with Juventus, leaving observers to speculate when, where and with whom Pogba will step onto a pitch again.

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Kazim-Richards has lauded Pogba's patience in returning to action, stating that the 32-year-old needs to rediscover his passion for playing the sport that made him famous.

"Paul needs to find his love for the game, and he needs the game to love him back," Kazim-Richards told betideas.com. "That is crucial for wherever he goes next. Without doubt.

"For me, Brazil was amazing. Amazing for all facets of the game, from fans to the competitiveness, to the amount of games. I played 80 something games in one year. Then when you play in the continental competitions, the counties that you get to play in and the stadiums, it was unreal. I loved it."

Pogba has been linked to clubs all over the world, including MLS outfit D.C. United, his old club Manchester United, Turkish giants Fenerbahçe, and sides in Brazil.

However, Kazim-Richards has warned that although Brazil worked out for him, it may not be a good fit for the French star.

"A lot of Brazilian clubs would love to bring him over because it's Paul Pogba, but let's be serious,' he said. "And this is not a slight on Pogba, because I think he is very underrated. Everybody's got an opinion about him. He had his ban.

"If we’re talking about Pogba at his best, we’re talking about a 6-foot-3 player that moves his feet like the best wingers. With vision is like Xavi or [Andres] Iniesta, but with the dribbling ability of the best attackers. It's not normal, that level of ability.

"But he's not going to be the Paul Pogba that we all know. Not yet, not after the period he’s had out. He needs to go somewhere where he doesn’t have that pressure to be the main man from the first minute, because it’s going to take time to get going again. 

"He needs to go somewhere that's going to allow him to become the Paul Pogba that we saw dominate Serie A with Juventus and win World Cups with France. I’m scared that if he went to Brazil, for the amount of money a Brazilian club would have to pay him, the fans' expectations might be too high."

As someone with a nomadic career of his own, Kazim-Richards is well positioned to give Pogba advice on his next move. The England-born former Turkey international pointed to a former Premier League star who had a rough time stepping out of his comfort zone when trying to rebuild his career and cautioned Pogba to not be hasty in his decision.

"What I would be saying to him if I was part of his team is: Go somewhere where you are going to find yourself," Kazim-Richards said. "We’ve seen players try and rediscover themselves in different environments before and it hasn’t worked. Dele Alli. He tried to find himself at Beşiktaş. Wrong place, wrong place. 

"I like that he's taken his time (to decide what to do next). He didn't just come back and sign for a team straight away. Just took his time. He is probably thinking about getting fit again and join a club in the summer preseason. If he does that, he can then acclimatise for six to eight weeks, integrate into the team and I'll be better for him; easier. I just hope that he does that because, if he can get that chance, the stuff that he can do with a football is crazy."

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