Finally! It appears that the Paul Pogba injury and recovery narrative, one that drifted into Derrick Rose territory as it took numerous twists and turns, is nearing its end. Two different sources are claiming today that Pogba is now in training with the Manchester United reserves.
Out since September 12, when he suffered a hamstring injury in a UEFA Champions League win at home versus FC Basel, the Frenchman could actually be in contention versus Newcastle United at home nine days from now.
“Starsport understands Pogba is set to return after the international break,” via the Daily Star.
“ESPN say, though, both Carrick and Rojo are in contention too.”
That ESPN FC article also claims that Pogba is now training with the young kids, and they go on to report that:
“Provided Pogba, Carrick and Rojo suffer no ill-effects to training this week, there is hope the trio could be included in Mourinho’s main group as he prepares to face Newcastle and bounce back from the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea last weekend.”
Additionally, the ESPN post reports that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is now doing outdoor drills at the Carrington training ground. Thus, manager Jose Mourinho was straight shooting when he said, following the 1-0 loss at Chelsea this past Sunday that his squad is getting very close to full strength again, and should be much closer to full fitness following the international break.
Just in time too, as Manchester City are starting to run away with the league title, and United will definitely need all hands on deck if they are to actually pose a serious title threat.
I guess Mourinho won’t be able to say that he could cry about not having Paul Pogba every week…relatively soon.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune corporation blogging community Chicago Now.
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