World Cup and bust: Why Pogba risks ruining his career like Umtiti
Karan Tejwani
- 3 Aug 2022 05:04 CDT
- 3 min read
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has received some positive injury news this week: he will not need to undergo surgery on a torn meniscus.
It was an injury that threatened to see him pinned to the sidelines for five months, missing the first half of Juve's Serie A and Champions League challenge and, perhaps more importantly, the opportunity to defend the World Cup that he helped France to win in 2018.
He picked up the injury while on the club’s pre-season tour, adding to his poor injury record, having already missed 72 matches for club and country since 2019.
Instead, Pogba is set to be able to work through the problem in the gym and swimming pool following advice from a specialist, but is it a case of short-term gain for long-term pain for the man known in France as the 'Pickaxe'?
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Pogba faces similar decision to the one Umtiti did in 2018
This is a similar decision to the one Samuel Umtiti had to make four years ago ahead of the World Cup in Russia, and he sacrificed his season at Barcelona to play in the tournament.
The defender suffered from many knee issues in the run-up to that summer’s World Cup, but chose to take part in the tournament rather than go under the knife.
From his perspective, the decision was the right one, as he ended up winning the World Cup, and Umtiti even scored the winner in the semi-final against Belgium.
However, it affected his long-term future, and Umtiti’s career has been derailed since, rarely featuring for Barcelona as they look for a way to ship him out, with suitors proving hard to find.
BREAKING: Paul Pogba is weighing up what kind of surgery to have on the torn meniscus in his knee. pic.twitter.com/TlZBGPwmcw
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 28, 2022
Several Ligue 1 clubs took interest in the player, but there are doubts over whether he’d pass a medical, making an exit from the Catalan side complicated. Indeed, it appears he is heading to Olympiacos in Greece.
Pogba has faced a similar dilemma and has made the same decision, and he must hope that the advice he has been given by the doctors stands up to the rigours of the professional game in a manner that Umtiti's did not.
It’s been clear over the last few years how much he prefers playing for his country, and he’s proven on several occasions that he’s a better player with them than he was for Manchester United.
Pogba has a clear and defined role, and that stood out at the last World Cup, as well as Euro 2020, despite France’s quarter-final exit, and it is little wonder that he wants to take part in Qatar.
Only time will tell, though, whether he has made the right call on this one.
