The very expensive reason Juventus could CANCEL Pogba's contract

Carlo Garganese

• 15 Mar 2023 22:45 GMT
• 4 min read

Juventus are considering cancelling Paul Pogba's contract and, when one looks at the financial strain he is putting on the club, it is easy to see why.

Pogba returned to Turin last summer on a free transfer after his contract at Man Utd expired.

But the France midfielder's season has been nothing short of a disaster.

READ MORE: Juventus threaten Pogba with sack

A string of injuries mean he has made just two substitute appearances all season, totalling 35 minutes.

He has thus far missed 34 matches and counting for Juve.

Gazzetta dello Sport has estimated that, given he earns €8 million per year (plus €2m in bonuses), Juventus have paid Pogba €228,571 per minute this season.

And given Pogba has a contract until 2026, it is easy to see why Juventus are looking into the possibility of rescinding his contract.

On Sunday, Pogba sustained a muscular injury in training ahead of Juventus' match against Sampdoria, which is set to rule him out for another month.

This was the fifth injury of the season for Pogba, who only made his second Juve debut a fortnight ago in the Turin derby.

He came on as a substitute in the 4-2 win over Torino and in the 1-0 loss to Roma last Sunday, before he was dropped from the squad for turning up late to a meeting before last Thursday’s Europa League victory over Freiburg.

Pogba was set to return at home against Sampdoria on Sunday but is now injured yet again.

Gazzetta reports that the Juventus hierarchy are growing increasingly disillusioned by Pogba's injury problems.

And they are looking into whether even cancelling his contract may be the way forward at the end of the season.

How many injuries has Pogba had?

From the start of the 2019-20 season until now, Pogba has sustained 12 different injuries that have kept him sidelined.

In total he has missed a whopping 124 club games due to injury or illness during that time.

The number rises to almost 150 when we include national team matches.

In the 2019-20 season, Pogba made just 16 Premier League appearances after two separate ankle problems forced him to miss 40 games in all competitions that campaign.

In 2021-22, Pogba had another long stretch on the treatment table from November to February due to a hamstring injury. He then saw his Man Utd career ended in April 2022 by a calf injury.

Things have not got any better at Juventus on the injury front.

In September, the 29-year-old underwent surgery for a torn meniscus that he suffered during the summer and which had not responded to conservative treatment.

He tried to recover in time for the World Cup with France but then suffered a thigh injury prior to the finals.

Pogba then suffered a number of setbacks in December and the start of January before slowly working his way back to fitness.

He was set to return at the start of February in the Coppa Italia clash against Lazio, having sat on the bench a few days earlier in the defeat to Monza.

However, Pogba picked up another injury in training before the Lazio game. This ruled him out for almost another month before he finally played against Torino.

Then came his latest injury, which occurred in training while taking a free kick.