No question of missing the World Cup with the Blues: Paul Pogba, hit in the right knee, will stay away from the field until mid-September but avoids an operation which could have made him miss the big meeting at the end of the season. year in Qatar. The 29-year-old French world champion, part of Didier Deschamps’ France team, will undergo “conservative therapy for five weeks”, a spokesman for Juventus Turin told AFP on Tuesday, where Pogba returned this summer after six years at Manchester United.
An injury during the preparation tour in the United States
The international was injured in training ten days ago during the Bianconeri’s tour of the United States. Victim of a “damage to the lateral meniscus” of the right knee, the “Pickaxe” took the opinion of several specialists on the possible treatments and in particular on the need or not for surgery. He notably met this Tuesday in Lyon a renowned specialist, who recently operated on Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Depending on the nature of the operation, meniscectomy (removal of the damaged part of the meniscus) or suture, the duration of his unavailability could have varied between two and four months approximately, jeopardizing his participation in the World Cup in Qatar (November 21-18 december). The “conservative therapy” finally chosen by the player and his club consists in providing care without resorting to an operation. It will include, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport“three weeks between gymnasium, swimming pool and physio, and the last two in the field to carry out differentiated athletic work”.
Pogba’s return scheduled for mid-September
The deadline put forward by Juve allows Pogba to return to the field from mid-September. Without removing all concerns about the condition of the knee of the French international. Didier Deschamps may have the opportunity to take stock with him during the next matches of the Blues, against Austria on September 22 then Denmark on September 25 in the League of Nations, the last gathering before the World Cup. Pogba (91 caps, 11 goals) has not played with the Blues since a demonstration against South Africa (5-0) in a friendly match on March 29.
If it does not call into question his participation in the World Cup, this injury nevertheless remains a serious blow for the French player, who has returned to revive himself in a club where he had his best years between 2012 and 2016 (four league titles). Italy). It confirms a dark year for the midfielder of the Blues, whose last season had already ended early in April due to calf discomfort. Before that, he had already missed four months of competition, from November 2021 to February 2022, due to a thigh injury.
Juventus Turin counts on “the pickaxe”
Juve, she is relieved: she will be able to count fairly quickly on her star recruit of the summer, recalled to the bedside of an “Old lady” in decline. The Bianconeri have been stripped of all their titles for the past two seasons in Italy, overtaken by Inter Milan and AC Milan after reigning over Serie A for nine years in a row (2012-2020).
Coach Massimiliano Allegri is counting on the Frenchman, whom he had already managed at Juve between 2014 and 2016, to stabilize a midfield without a boss last season, which ended in 4th place. These few weeks of absence from Pogba, and the uncertainties still accompanying the state of his right knee, could encourage his club to remain cautious on the transfer market, and in particular to keep his compatriot Adrien Rabiot, announced as leaving at the start of the season. summer.