The transalpine increases his loads and aims for Sunday's race to find his season debut: he's been in the infirmary since May 14...
He is looking forward to replacing the last black and white slide, Paul Pogba . Juventus fans remember him slumped to the ground last May 14th, after half an hour of the home match against Cremonese and four days before the semi-final of the Europa League against Sevilla . Then the slow recovery from yet another injury, the now usual postponements of the return date, the gradual return to the group at Continassa.
Having completed a process that by now he knows all too well, the Octopus is now ready to put official minutes back into his legs. He collected the last unofficial ones in joint training with Alessandria a week ago, adding up a fraction of the game and a goal. A small brick for morale, undermined by many and too many stops. Which, now, was followed by another.
Pogba, morale growing
The emotional aspect, at this moment, cannot be secondary for a talent to recover in the head at least as much as in the legs. Allegri knows it and Deschamps knows it too , his second point of reference on the bench. And, in fact, the coach of France has decided to include the 30-year-old from Lagny-sur-Marne – somewhat surprisingly – in the pre-called-up list in view of the double September commitment of the transalpines. Les Bleus will take the field on 7 September at the Parc des Princes in Paris for the match against Ireland on the way to Euro2024 , then they will repeat on the 12th in a friendly against Germany in Dortmund. Two matches in view of which the former Juventus coach also wants Pogba in the group, who last year had waited until the last useful moment before the World Cup in Qatar . So as to let him breathe the air of the locker room, so as to perhaps return him to the field for a remnant of the match. The road to returning to the available squad in Turin was tortuous and every day at Continassa thrives on a small, new step, but Deschamps certainly doesn't need calls for caution - from a black and white environment he knows like his pockets – to scrupulously manage the midfielder.