Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri admits Paul Pogba’s performances at the World Cup caught his eye but stopped short of expressing an interest in bringing the midfielder back to Turin.
After a season of mixed fortunes at Manchester United, where he impressed and frustrated across the course of a campaign that yielded only runners-up spots in the Premier League and FA Cup, Pogba was inspirational for France in Russia and scored in their 4-2 final victory over Croatia.
The 25-year-old’s international team-mate Blaise Matuidi called for Pogba to return to Juventus amid France’s celebrations, and it has been rumoured he would be interested in heading back to Serie A to link up with new signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Allegri – who allowed Pogba to leave Juventus for an initial €105M in August 2016 after four glittering seasons with the Bianconeri – praised the midfielder for coming of age at the World Cup but would not confirm any concrete interest in a transfer.
“I can only say I’m happy for having seen him grown up in an important competition like the World Cup,” Allegri told reporters.
Allegri watched his players beat Bayern Munich 2-0 on Wednesday in the International Champions Cup, and he praised new arrivals Emre Can and Joao Cancelo for “improving the team” in their first pre-season outing.
Juve’s goals were scored by 21-year-old forward Andrea Favilli but Allegri indicated that it was too soon for him to compete for a first-team place.
“Favilli is a good player,” he said. “He has great potential and great skills, but I think he is about to move to Genoa on loan for next year.”
Despite describing Pogba’s performances in the latter stages of the World Cup as ‘absolutely brilliant’ Pogba’s club manager- Mourinho’s next comment spoke volumes.
“I hope he understands why he was very good.”
He went a step further in an interview with ESPN this week.
“I don’t think it’s about us getting the best out of him,” he said. “It’s about him giving the best he has to give.”I think the World Cup is the perfect habitat for a player like him to give the best. Why? Because it’s closed for a month, where he can only think about football. Where he’s with his team on the training camp, completely isolated from the external world, where they focus just on football, where the dimensions of the game can only motivate.
“During a season, you can have a big match then a smaller match, then one even smaller, then you can lose your focus, you can lose your concentration, then comes a small match and a bigger match.
A simple congratulations, it was not – and the early evidence is that Mourinho’s relationship with his highest profile player is threatening to overshadow yet another campaign after Pogba was dropped for key games in the second half of last season.
Senior sources at Old Trafford insist they have no intention of selling Pogba – meanwhile his performances at the World Cup will strengthen their resolve for two reasons in particular.