If he will have to do without the (precious) services of N'Golo Kanté at the 2022 World Cup, as revealed by
L'Équipe
this Friday, Didier Deschamps can still hope to rely on Paul Pogba.
Nothing is certain - far from it - but optimism reigns concerning the recovery of the midfielder, operated on the external meniscus of the right knee at the beginning of September.
The Juventus Turin player would be "
on schedule
", according to information published by the French sports daily this Saturday.
He would have resumed running alone and would have started support exercises and accelerations, all “
without feeling pain
”.
A resumption of collective training next week?
With this positive news, Paul Pogba could well resume collective training next week, "
according to the objectives set by the player in agreement with the club
", specifies
L'Équipe
.
If this schedule is respected, he could thus find playing time at the end of the month - the Old Lady moves on the lawn of Lecce on October 29 - or at the beginning of November, whether for the last meeting of the group stage. of the Champions League against Paris SG (November 2), for the shock of Serie A against Inter Milan (November 6) or for one of the last two league matches before the World Cup, against Hellas Verona (November 10) and Lazio Rome (November 13).
SEE ALSO -
The best of Paul Pogba at Juventus Turin
“I will not leave with a player who needs work with the medical staff or separate sessions.
»
Didier Deschamps
If he will reveal his list on November 9, Didier Deschamps will have until November 14 to communicate his final selection to FIFA.
In any case, to have a chance to defend his title, the 2018 World Champion will have to have regained (almost) the fullness of his physical means by the time he leaves for Qatar.
Which implies that he must have replayed and accumulated quite a bit of playing time by then.
Read also World Cup: "Not disconnected from reality", Deschamps says he is "maximally vigilant about what will happen in Qatar"
This is essentially what the coach of the Blues suggested on Thursday: “
The first thing that is essential is that the player be cured.
I will not leave with a player who needs work with the medical staff or separate sessions
, said Didier Deschamps, in remarks reported by
Canal +
.
There is this aspect of being healed, and the second aspect is the athletic condition.
It all depends on the length of the downtime.
But it's not the same to stop for 15 days or 2 months.
We must assess their athletic condition, taking into account that we have no preparation and that we cannot change it.
The message has certainly passed.