Juventus can’t afford to keep hold of Paul Pogba – Giuseppe Marotta

Daniele Peluson 10:24 04/08/2015
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  • Prized asset: Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba.

    Juventus director general Giuseppe Marotta admits the club cannot offer Paul Pogba a ‘crazy salary’ but reiterated their desire to keep hold of the highly-rated France international.

    Pogba has helped Juventus win three successive Serie A titles since joining from Manchester United in 2012 and this summer was close to agreeing a move to Barcelona.

    Juve turned down a reported €80 million (Dh322m) bid from the European champions last month and Marotta concedes that the Turin club cannot offer the 22-year-old midfielder the sort of salary some of their European rivals can.

    Barca are understood to have reached a verbal agreement to sign the French international next summer and Marotta concedes the 22-year-old’s head may be turned. 

    “Pogba’s future? In modern football the decision of the player is paramount, like with (Carlos) Tevez,” Marotta told Quotidiano Sportivo.

    “It’s obvious that we would like to keep him until he stops playing, but we can’t afford to do anything crazy in terms of salaries and some clubs can guarantee twice what we can.”

    Marotta went on to confirm that Juventus are seeking to bolster their midfield numbers but are not planning to lodge bids for Chelsea’s Oscar or Real Madrid’s Isco.

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    “Isco and Oscar are both stellar players, but in the case of Juventus – unfortunately, for now – we will never be able to sign them,” 
    Marotta added.

    Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri will need to bring in midfield reinforcements during the summer transfer window after Arturo Vidal joined Bayern Munich and Sami Khedira was ruled out for two months with a thigh injury. 

    The Germany international, a summer recruit from Madrid, was carried off on a stretcher during Juve’s 2-0 friendly defeat against Marseille at the weekend.

    “Sami Khedira will be sidelined for approximately two months after medical examinations revealed a second-grade myotendinous tear of the rectus femoris muscle in his right thigh,” a statement on Juve’s website read.

    “The German midfielder sustained the injury during last Saturday’s pre-season friendly against Olympique Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.”

    Khedira was making just his second Juventus appearance in Saturday’s match but will now miss the Bianconeri’s Italian Super Cup showdown against Lazio in Shanghai on Saturday.

    The 28-year-old former Stuttgart player is also expected to be unavailable for his new club’s first eight league fixtures, which include mouthwatering encounters against Roma and Napoli.

    Khedira missed last summer’s World Cup final after sustaining a calf injury in the warm-up and spent a large chunk of the 2014-15 season on the Bernabeu treatment table before joining Juve on a free transfer.

    Juventus kick off their Serie A title defence at home against Udinese on August 23.

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