Transfer disaster Pogba out for ANOTHER 20 days
Carlo Garganese
- 12 Feb 2023 15:35 GMT
- 4 min read
Paul Pogba will not play again until March at the very earliest as his disastrous return to Juventus from Man Utd goes from bad to worse.
Juventus coach Max Allegri confirmed on Saturday that Pogba was unavailable for Sunday’s clash against Fiorentina due to his latest flexor injury.
Allegri revealed that Pogba had no chance of playing for at least another 20 days, meaning he will not return until March at the earliest.
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What did Allegri say about Pogba?
“Pogba cannot be called up, he’s still out at the moment. He’s not there, I’m sorry to say it but that’s the reality,” Allegri said in his pre-match press conference.
“He’s working to be available again, right now I can’t tell you when he’ll be back. Maybe in 20 days, I don’t know.”
Pogba has not kicked a football this season since his free transfer move back to Juventus from Manchester United in the summer.
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 had 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 minor injury in training before the Lazio game.
A "soreness of the flexor", said Allegri at the time, which he played down as something that can happen after a long period of inactivity.
Allegri has now confirmed this injury means Pogba won’t return until March.
Pogba's constant injuries are now starting to become a serious concern, with there serious fears if the 29-year-old’s body is up to the rigours of top-level football any more.
How many injuries has Pogba had?
From the start of the 2019-20 season until now, Pogba has sustained 11 different injuries that have kept him sidelined.
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In total he has missed a whopping 118 club games due to injury or illness during that time. The number rises to over 140 when we include national team matches.
In the 2019-20 season, Pogba made just 16 Premier League appearances after two separate ankle problems forced him to miss 40 games in all competitions that campaign.
In 2021-22, Pogba had another long stretch on the treatment table from November to February due to a hamstring injury. He then saw his Man Utd career ended in April by a calf injury.
These persistent injuries were a concern for some Juventus fans upon his return on a free transfer this summer, and they were right to be concerned.
Since returning to Turin, Pogba has not played a single competitive match. He featured for 45 minutes in a pre-season friendly against Guadalajara before injuring his meniscus in training the very next day in the United States.
Initially he attempted to undergo conservative therapy before eventually conceding that he had to go under the knife.
After returning to training at the end of October, he then suffered a thigh injury which kept him out until the middle of January. On February 1, Pogba suffered a minor flexor injury.
He has not played competitively since April 19, 2022, a 4-0 thrashing for Man Utd by Liverpool.
