Paul Pogba suffers fresh injury setback

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has suffered another injury setback, delaying his debut for the club even further following a much-hyped reunion now seven long months ago.

Having made his name with Juve during a four-year spell at the start of his senior career, Pogba rejoined the Serie A giants as a free agent last summer following the end of his ultimately disappointing time with Manchester United.

But returning to Juve hasn’t been the jumpstart to his club career he would have wanted it to be.

Pogba suffered a knee injury in pre-season not long after arriving, a torn meniscus that required surgery. And while it was initially hoped he might be fit enough to go to the World Cup with France in November, his camp admitted it was still ‘extremely painful’ just over two weeks beforehand.

The 29-year-old had finally recovered sufficiently to be on the bench for Juve’s embarrassing home defeat to Monza on Sunday, but didn’t get on the pitch.

Now, coach Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed that the fresh muscle discomfort will rule Pogba out of Thursday night’s Coppa Italia clash with Lazio altogether.

“Pogba will not be there due to soreness in his flexors,” the Juve boss explained.

The sole positive for both player and club is that it appears to only be a minor issue.

Injury problems largely dictated Pogba’s final few seasons in Manchester. Having carried a poor United team on his back in 2018/19 with 16 goals and 11 assists in 47 appearances, the Frenchman missed several months of the following campaign with ankle problems.

Hamstring trouble cost him more games in both 2020/21 and 2021/22, while Pogba played his final game for United in April, by which time he was rarely completing 90 minutes anyway, because a calf injury ended his season prematurely.