Paul Pogba could be set to miss the World Cup after deciding to undergo surgery on a troublesome knee injury, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed.
Pogba ended a six-year spell at Manchester United to return to Turin in July but has yet to play a competitive game during his second Bianconeri spell after injuring his meniscus.
The midfielder, who was a key part of France's 2018 World Cup-winning side, initially opted for therapy over surgery in a bid to ease his injury woes ahead of the tournament in Qatar, which begins in November.
But speaking ahead of Juventus' Champions League group-stage trip to Paris Saint-Germain, Allegri revealed the 29-year-old will now go under the knife, casting doubt over his chances of featuring in Qatar.
"I have to count on having him back in January. Whether he plays the World Cup or not isn't my problem," Allegri said on Monday.
"This morning he trained for the second time, but then stopped, and it was then decided that he will undergo surgery.
"I hope we get him back before the World Cup. But there are [less than three months] to go until it starts.
"The World Cup isn't my problem. Juventus is, which returns in January.
"Pogba had made a conservative choice, we will get him back in January. It will hardly be before November, we need to be realistic."
However, Allegri claims he is not irritated by Pogba's initial doubts over the procedure, which has essentially set the midfielder's recovery back by over a month.
"From here you look forward," he said. "The past does not change, if you make a decision it is right, then you see if it was done well or badly.
"We do not think about whether we might have done it. Now let's think about having a good game [on Tuesday]."
While Pogba will be unable to make the trip to his home country to feature at the Parc des Princes, Juventus will also be without former PSG winger Angel Di Maria as he continues to battle a calf injury.
Allegri highlighted the need to manage the Argentinian's workload, adding: "I made him play against Spezia because a shock was needed. On Sunday [against Fiorentina] he was better.
"Taking him with us to Paris and risking him for a match with many important matches between now and November… no. Otherwise he loses his physical condition, he would be of no use."
Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering
Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.
Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.
Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.
The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.
Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.
Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.
Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display
Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.
Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.
Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq.
Data Debrief: Clinical finishers
Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.
With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.
Al-Akhdoud 2-3 Al-Nassr: Brozovic stunner delays Al-Hilal coronation
Marcelo Brozovic scored twice – including a fine half-volley in second-half stoppage time – as Al-Nassr beat Al-Akhdoud 3-2 to delay Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League title coronation on Thursday.
Former Inter midfielder Brozovic fired in a seventh-minute opener from outside the area before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped into an empty net to double the visitors' lead.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork early in the second half and Al-Nassr relinquished control of the game from there, with goals from Hassan Al Habib and Saviour Godwin making it 2-2.
However, Brozovic blasted a bouncing ball home following a goalmouth scramble in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time to hand Al-Nassr a fifth straight win and keep them within nine points of Al-Hilal, with three games still to play.
They have only delayed the inevitable though as the leaders – who have only dropped four points all season – need just one more point to secure their crown ahead of facing Al-Hazm on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Brozovic upstages Ronaldo
While it's usually Ronaldo writing the headlines for Al-Nassr, he was upstaged by Brozovic on Thursday as the Croatian found the net with both of his shots, also leading all players on the pitch for final-third passes (19) and completing 90.1 per cent of his passes overall (81/95).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
