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Paul Pogba has had a turbulent start to his second spell at Juventus.
The French midfielder has faced multiple spells on the sidelines since his move from Manchester United on a free transfer last summer, six years after his initial departure from Turin.
Pogba would undergo radiological examinations that revealed a lesion of the lateral meniscus after a pre-season friendly against Guadalajara in July, effectively ruling him out of contention for several months.
The 29-year-old had to bide his time patiently, and was finally deemed fit enough to be included in the Juventus squad against Serie A new boys Monza in January.
He would end up helplessly watching on from the bench as the Old Lady succumbed to a humiliating 2-0 defeat.
Pogba would pick up another flexor injury in the weeks that followed.
As a result of these multiple niggles, the Frenchman has managed just three substitute appearances in the league to add to his four-minute cameo in the Europa League against Sporting Lisbon last Thursday.
Juve manager Max Allegri had his say about Pogba’s situation during an interview with DAZN.
The Italian said, “Pogba is a strong player.
“But right now he’s not in the ideal condition to play a 90-minute match. He is still behind athletically, today was already better than last time but he is still behind.
“We all see that he is a different player. Slowly, we’ll bring him maybe to half an hour and then later. The important thing is that it gives consistency, the knee is responding well.”
Pogba came off the bench with seven minutes to go but was unable to prevent a 1-0 defeat for Juventus against Sassuolo in the Serie A on Sunday.
There is a possibility that he will have a role to play in the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Sporting in Lisbon on Thursday, but the 30-year-old is unlikely to feature from the start.
Pogba won the Serie A in each of his four seasons in Italy, and his return to Turin was a moment fans of the Bianconeri had been waiting for for several years.
His prolonged absence from proceedings has been a huge loss for the Old Lady, as they have struggled to find any semblance of form without their main man this season.
Given the current state of affairs, Juventus fans will be praying that the French playmaker can stay fit, or further trouble looms across the horizon.
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