Paul Pogba has had a tough time with injuries throughout his Manchester United career.
The Frenchman has been dogged by issues at various points in time, whether that be for a matter of weeks or, in more severe cases, months out on the treatment table.
Pogba has missed lots of time in the current season due to injury, and United interim boss Ralf Rangnick wasn’t hugely optimistic of a quick return when asked about his midfielder’s current status on Friday.
He said in his pre-match press conference: “As far as I know, I was told a week ago it would be a minimum of at least another four to five weeks before he is fit for training again.
“I saw him the morning before the training session, he was in the locker and I hope he will be back as soon as possible.
“Right now, he’s not been part of the training group and, even if he was back whenever, two, three or four weeks, it will take some time. It’s one thing to be training fit but, on the other hand, he needs to be fit for the match and competition in either the Premier League or the Champions League and this will still take some time.”
What is Pogba’s latest injury?
Paul Pogba is currently recovering from a thigh injury he suffered on international duty with France at the beginning of November.
He suffered the injury during a training session. It was reported he would miss six to eight weeks of action. However, it looks like that timescale will now need to be extended.
In Pogba’s absence, United have played a total of 11 games. Due to suspension, the 28-year-old would not have been able to feature in two of those games anyway. He was shown a straight red card during his side’s 5-0 defeat to Liverpool in October.
Is this Pogba’s first injury this season?
Yes. After returning from Euro 2020 with France, Pogba was available for United’s first Premier League game of the season against Leeds United.
The midfielder provided an incredible four assists during the game. He followed that up by assisting Mason Greenwood in the Red Devils’ 1-1 draw at Southampton.
Pogba then set up a further two goals against Newcastle in September. That brought his tally to seven assists in just four Premier League games. He now holds the record for the most assists provided in that period of game time.
However, after that 4-1 win over the Magpies on September 11, Pogba did not score or assist for either club or country until his injury. Despite this, there is no doubt that, on his day, the Frenchman can be a tremendous asset to any side.
United fans, however, have had to grow used to his absence from the first team. Unfortunately for Pogba, this isn’t the first time he has missed chunks of time due to injury.
How much game time has Pogba missed throughout his United career?
Paul Pogba has missed a significant amount of time during his career at Manchester United due to injury problems.
According to Transfermarkt, the Frenchman has missed an incredible 499 days of action whilst a Red Devils player. That statistic considers his current injury, which is still ongoing at 50 days at the time of writing.
That equates to 81 games missed across his spell at United. Pogba was absent for 19 games following a severe ankle injury between December 2019 and June 2020.
However, he returned for the Premier League restart after the Covid-19 enforced shutdown and lit up Old Trafford with some critical performances as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side ensured qualification for the following season’s Champions League.
Other injuries have seen him miss 17 and 12 games respectively for United.
Paul Pogba has had severe bad luck with injury issues over his career. But when he is on top form, very few midfielders can match him. Red Devils fans will be hoping the Frenchman can get back to that form upon his return, keep it up a consistent basis and, crucially, stay fit.
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