'Absolutely not!' Juventus chief rubbishes Pogba transfer talk

James Shearman

• Updated: 16 Mar 2023 22:02 GMT
• 3 min read

Juventus are not trying to sell summer signing Paul Pogba already, according to Chief Football Officer Francesco Calvo.

''He's the first one who is not happy with this year and with this latest injury,'' Calvo told Sky Sport ahead of Juve's 2-0 victory over Freiburg in the Europa League.

''When it comes to great players, everything is emphasised, for better or for worse. I've read big headlines and that Juventus would like to offload him. Absolutely not.

READ: Pogba, Hazard and the most INJURY-PRONE players in football

''We believe so much in Pogba, otherwise we wouldn't have signed a four-year contract,'' Calvo added.

''We are as sorry as he is, we speak daily with the player, he knows we are not happy with this situation just as he is not happy.''

Pogba’s injury hell

Pogba has now suffered five injuries in total since returning to Juventus, missing over 40 games this season and making no starts.

In September, the 29-year-old underwent surgery for a torn meniscus that he suffered during the summer and which had not responded to conservative treatment.

He tried to recover in time for the World Cup with France but then suffered a thigh injury prior to the finals.

Pogba then suffered a number of setbacks in December and the start of January before slowly working his way back to fitness.

He was set to return at the start of February in the Coppa Italia clash against Lazio, having sat on the bench a few days earlier in the defeat to Monza.

However, Pogba picked up another injury in training before the Lazio game. This ruled him out for almost another month before he finally played against Torino.

Most recently, having finally made his debut, he suffered a muscle injury prior to the Serie A match against Sampdoria.