Paul Pogba, arguably the best central midfielder in the world at the age of 22 (he turned 22 four days ago, by the way), is set to miss a number of key games over the next two months after the Juventus star picked up an injury in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 match against Borussia Dortmund.
The Frenchman suffered “a second-degree injury” to his right hamstring and will miss “50 days,” according to a statement released by the club on Thursday. In those 50 days, Juventus have a Champions League quarterfinal tie, the Coppa Italia semifinal second leg, as well as a potential UCL semifinal tie before returning for the season’s final few games.
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As for Pogba’s long-term future, that’s a situation full of questions and speculation as some of the world’s richest clubs circle the French midfielder like vultures. Further fueling the speculation is Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola.
Speaking this week to French newspaper L’Equipe, Raiola had the following to say about Real Madrid and the La Liga club’s rumored interest in Pogba:“We’re not interested in Real. I have never gone to Madrid to tell them, ‘Please, would you like to buy Pogba?’
“Real Madrid are a club that is used to buying players like you buy a facecloth — and then throws them away like a facecloth.”
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“Real are a team that sees a player who has six good games at the World Cup and buys him. We don’t want to go to a club like that. We want to go to a club that believes in Paul’s potential. I am not closing the door to Real, but I’m not opening it either.”
Wise words from Raiola, who was of course referring to Real’s capture of James Rodriguez following last summer’s World Cup.
Of course, if Real are the club that offers Pogba the most money — and they’re known to do just that when they want a player badly enough — we’ll see how quickly his agent’s tune changes, then.