Sidney Sladen
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has provided an update on Paul Pogba’s hamstring injury that he suffered against FC Rostov on Thursday night and admitted that the player could be out for up to three weeks.
Paul Pogba suffered an injury to his hamstring during Manchester United’s Europa League clash against FC Rostov and was taken off in the 48th minute. He was replaced by Marouane Fellaini, who put on a brilliant performance after coming on for the Frenchman.
Pogba was having a good game until his substitution halted his slow progress. He has been off form in recent weeks and on Thursday night it appeared that the midfielder was slowly picking it up.
However, his rise did not last long as he was taken off by Jose Mourinho. It would have been a heart break for the young midfielder but 3 weeks will surely move quickly.
Ahead of United’s 1-0 win, he was called up to Didier Deschamps’ squad for the upcoming break. However, Mourinho has ruled Paul Pogba out of featuring for France as well as United this Sunday at Middlesbrough.
When asked if Pogba would be out for three weeks, Mourinho replied: “Yeah. I don’t know for sure but, for sure, no Middlesbrough [on Sunday] and no national team.”
The injury to Pogba adds to Mourinho’s problems in midfield, with Ander Herrera facing a two-game domestic suspension following his dismissal during Monday’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Chelsea.
Though Paul Pogba has not been in great form of late, he will be a huge loss for Jose as Paul is a quality player on the pitch. It is indeed true that form is temporary and class is permanent and probably that is the case with Pogba right now. He is a class act and will pick up form in the future; no doubt about it.
However, it would be better for Manchester United if the Frenchman returned earlier than expected as they would be light on numbers in the midfield region when the fixture list piles up in the next few weeks, with United still fighting in the Europa League.
This might be the right time for Mourinho to make use of Schweinsteiger’s masterly game play and keep the German happy.
The boss also has Fellaini at his disposal and Schweinsteiger available in the squad to step up when needed. Hence, Jose wouldn’t be scratching his head too much about quantity. It would only be a problem if Pogba doesn’t return in three weeks. However, it is safe to believe the manager’s words and hope that Paul starts playing again soon.
