The French midfielder tried to avoid surgery since suffering the injury in preseason, but now has no choice
Paul Pogba still has yet to make his official comeback with Juventus in Serie A (available on Paramount+) after joining them this summer. The French midfielder injured the meniscus of his right knee in July, forcing him to miss the preseason tour with the Italian club. He then spent almost two months trying to rehab and avoid surgery, opting for a conservative approach. It didn’t work. Pogba and Juventus together decided he needs to undergo surgery this week after negative test results on Monday morning at the J Medical in Turin suggested a lack of improvement in the knee. Pogba is now set to miss from six to eight weeks, meaning that whether he is back in time for the 2022 World Cup in November will be determined by the course of his recovery in the coming weeks and whether France manager Didier Deschamps is willing to risk bringing an, at best, recently recovered Pogba.
This also means that Pogba will likely miss the rest of the year with Juventus, considering that the Italian club will play until the first week of November before players depart for the Qatar World Cup. On the other hand, it is more likely that Pogba will return to the Bianconeri at the beginning of the next year in full health with a repaired knee.
Pogba came back to Juventus this summer as a free agent, six years after he left the Italian side to join Manchester United. It’s Pogba’s second stint with the club that he initially suited up for from 2012 to 2016 before making his return to Old Trafford for approximately €105 million. Pogba began his youth career at Manchester United but then opted to move to Italy as a free agent to join Juve the first time, playing four years, logging 178 matches and scoring 34 goals while also providing 40 assists. He won four consecutive Serie A titles and a pair of Coppa Italia titles in the process. He moved back to Manchester United in the summer 2016 after the the English club payed a then-record transfer fee for his services.
