Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri warns that Paul Pogba needs at least another month before returning to group training, so he won’t be involved in the pre-season tour in the USA.
The French midfielder struggled with injuries last season and only collected 10 appearances across all competitions after undergoing meniscus surgery in September 2022.
He has joined his teammates for a pre-season tour in the USA, but is not expected to be involved.
“I don’t think Paul will play during the tournée. Practically, he has never trained with the group,” Allegri said at a press conference, as quoted by Tuttosport.
“He is working separately. He is doing well, but even last season there were times he was improving and then stopped. Seeing him running, I can say he’s slightly improving, but he’s still not ready to play. We have to wait at least one month before seeing him with the team.”
Juventus’ friendly against Barcelona was cancelled due to viral gastroenteritis among a significant part of the Catalans’ squad, so the Bianconeri will meet Milan and Real Madrid while in the USA.
“We start again with the entire group available. There are a few physical problems which are normal at the beginning of the season,” said Allegri.
“Then we have the entire month of August to fix the team if we need, otherwise we are fine as we are. Don’t forget this team ended third in Serie A last season. As things stand, we don’t know if we’ll play in the Conference League. If we play in Europe we’ll need a certain kind of team, if we don’t we’ll need something different.”
Dusan Vlahovic is also dealing with minor physical issues but is expected to feature during the Soccer Champions Tour.
“We are trying to manage Dusan in the best way, don’t forget he had groin issues at the end of last season,” explained the coach.
“Therefore, he must not overdo, in order to be fit for the start of the season.”
Allegri suggested that he will continue with a 3-5-2 formation in 2023-24.
“We are working on what we carried forward last season even due to the players’ characteristics,” he argued.
“Sometimes seasons start in a certain way but end differently. We must improve certain situations. Surely some players who did well last season will keep improving, such as Bremer, Gatti, Fagioli and Miretti. There are young players who have come closer to the first team, we must work, keep a low profile because it will be a long and difficult season. We must focus on the month to prepare for the new campaign in the best way. The point, I repeat, is that we don’t know if we’ll play in the Conference League or not.”
Cristiano Giuntoli said last week that Juventus won’t sign new players unless someone leaves.
“I speak about transfers every day with the director. We are making assessments,” revealed Allegri.
“If we can we’ll try to improve, but we don’t want to sign players just to do it. We have excellent footballers who can still improve. Last season was strange mentally, we burned a lot of energy, this one will be different and we must be confident.
“We want to do the best in Serie A, and of course Juventus must target Champions League return. I think revenue will rise by 20 or 30 % from next year, so it’s very important to be in the Champions League for a Serie A club. Without point-deduction, we would have played it this season too given that we finished third.”