Massimiliano Allegri confirms Paul Pogba IS available for Juventus’ derby clash with Torino tonight after recovering from a knee injury… as France star prepares to finally make his long-awaited second debut for the Italian giants
- The Juventus coach confirmed that Pogba will return for their clash with Torino
- Pogba has not made an appearance since re-joining the Italian side in summer
- The French international’s last outing came in a defeat for Man United last April
Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed that Paul Pogba has returned to the Juventus squad ahead of their derby clash with Torino.
The French international has not made an appearance since rejoining the Italian giants from Manchester United in the summer, after leaving England on a free deal.
His second debut for the club has been highly-anticipated and it looks like Juventus fans won’t have to wait much longer after Allegri confirmed Pogba’s availability.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the derby clash, the head coach said: ‘He’s [Pogba] better, he’ll be called up tomorrow.
‘If there’s a need tomorrow, we’ll put him on, he certainly won’t be able to play a lot of minutes.’
Paul Pogba is in line to make his highly-anticipated second debut for Juventus on Tuesday
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri confirmed the Frenchman’s availability for the match
Allegri then eased expectations, as he said: ‘Now, to say that Pogba can be a starter for Juventus after 315 days without playing, Chiesa, who has been out for 10 months, is the same thing. We need a bit of patience.’
The Italian manager was then asked about what his expectations are for Pogba, who hasn’t played a competitive game since United’s 4-0 loss to Liverpool last April.
‘I spoke to him like I do with other players. He has to understand that it’s an important part of the season to get back on track, he has to have all the motivation to do good until the end of the season and give us a hand.’
The former United star was seen on holiday before confused fans questioned why Pogba was taking to the ski slopes despite recovering from those knocks.
Pogba returned to the bench during Juventus’ shock 2-0 home defeat by Monza at the end of last month.
But the former Manchester United star was not risked by Allegri and remained an unused substitute throughout the match, as Juventus slipped to 13th in the division following their 15-point deduction for the club’s transfer dealings.
Pogba has been unavailable since joining the Serie A giants from Man United in summer
With 20 games left to play in the season, Juventus were third in Serie A and 10 points adrift of leaders Napoli before being dealt the hefty points deduction.
Speaking on the matter, Allegri said: ‘We’ve overcome the 15-point deduction. We have a very clear mini-goal to take the ball and not lose confidence because we scored 47 points.
‘We know that we have to try to get to the end of the season having scored the points to finish in the top four. Net of penalties.’