PostedAugust 2, 2022, 11:50 PM
FootballPogba renounces the operation, not the World Cup
The Frenchman from Juventus is going to use ‘conservative therapy’ to recover faster and be selectable for the next World Cup.
Paul Pogba (centre) won’t be able to play for Juventus until mid-September.
AFP
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 might 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 spokesperson for Juventus Turin told AFP on Tuesday, where Pogba returned this summer following six years at Manchester United.
Injured during training
“Paul will be subjected to treatment that will allow him to return to the field soon with Juventus and to compete in the World Cup”, also underlined in the evening the entourage of his agent, Rafaela Pimenta.
The international injured himself in training regarding ten days ago during the Bianconeri’s United States tour.
Victim of a “lateral meniscus lesion” of the right knee, the “Pickaxe” took the opinion of several specialists on the possible treatments and in particular on the need or not of a surgical intervention.
He notably met this Tuesday in Lyon a renowned specialist, who recently operated on Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Only five weeks break
Depending on the nature of the operation, meniscectomy (removal of the damaged part of the meniscus) or suture, the duration of his unavailability might 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”.
A first point in the League of Nations
The deadline put forward by Juve allows Pogba to return to the field from mid-September. Without removing all concerns regarding 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, once morest 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 once morest 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).
A dark year for Pogba
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.
Juve, she is relieved: she can a priori 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 following 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, might 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.
(AFP)
