Paul Pogba’s former teammate Alessandro Matri has revealed that Antonio Conte once had to drop the Frenchman for Juventus after arriving late for training in the days leading up to a game.
Matri’s time at Juve under Conte overlapped with Pogba’s first stint in Turin during the 2012-13 season.
Weighing in on the latest incident, which led to Pogba being left out of Massimiliano Allegri’s squad for the first leg of the Europa League Round of 16 against Freiburg, Matri said it was important to consider whether or not it was the first incident of its nature.
Apparently, as Matri said to DAZN before the game on Thursday evening, it was not the first time Pogba had reported late to a Juve appointment.
He told the media: “These things happen but you have to consider whether or not it’s the first time this has happened. When I was at Juve, Pogba was once late for a training session and Conte didn’t call him up for the next match”.
Allegri said that the decision to omit Pogba from the midweek squad was taken “as a matter of respect for the group.”
Pogba has been fined by the Serie A giants but will be available for Sunday’s Serie A clash against Sampdoria at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. The France international has only made two appearances for the Bianconeri this season after collecting a meniscus injury during the summer.