France make their debut at Qatar 2022 without Juventus star Paul Pogba who has yet to make his first competitive appearance for the Old Lady this term, but when will he be back?
The 29-year-old returned for a second spell at the Allianz Stadium last summer, completing a free transfer from Manchester United.
Expectations were high, but Pogba suffered a meniscus injury during the pre-season and initially followed conservative therapy which the club did not recommend. In fact, Juventus wanted Pogba to immediately go under the knife, something the France midfielder was forced to do at the start of September given that the therapy had brought no results.
The ex-Manchester United star partially trained with the team before the World Cup break and is expected to be back when the season resumes on January 4.
Pogba’s Juventus teammate Adrien Rabiot will replace him in Qatar and is expected to start in the Les Blues’ opener against Australia tonight.
“Pogba suffers for not being at the World Cup, but he knows that at the end of the day, he has to wake up and continue recovering. He wants to play to give Juventus what they deserve,” said Pogba’s agent Rafaela Pimenta last week.
Milan‘s Mike Maignan is also out of action due to a calf injury sustained on international duty in September and has not been included in the France squad.