Ralf Rangnick has confessed that he does not expect to see midfielder Paul Pogba back in Manchester United training for at least another month.
Pogba suffered a groin injury while away on international duty with France in November, and although he has since returned to basic individual training, he is nowhere near an actual return to competitive action.
That much was confirmed by Rangnick, who told club media that Pogba still has another month of individual work to do before United can even consider bringing him back into the first team.
“As far as I know, I was told a week ago, it would be a minimum of at least another four or five weeks before he is fit for training again,” Rangnick revealed.
“I saw him this morning before the training session, he was in the locker room, and I hope he will be back as soon as possible.”
The boss then stressed that he does not want to put an exact date on Pogba's potential return and urged fans to be patient with the Frenchman as he nears three months out of action.
“Right now, he’s not been part of the training group and, even if he was back whenever, two, three or four weeks, it will take some time," Rangnick continued.
“It’s one thing to be training fit but, on the other hand, he needs to be fit for the match and competition in either the Premier League or the Champions League and this will still take some time.”
On top of his fitness, Pogba will have one eye on his long-term future. He is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to receive offers from Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and perhaps even Real Madrid if he does hit the market.
Pogba's camp recently spoke out to dismiss claims he had been offered a new £500,000-a-week contract at Old Trafford, insisting that there has been no fresh proposal in the last few months.
Source : 90min