Paul Pogba has not travelled to the Netherlands for Manchester United’s Europa League clash with AZ Alkmaar following specialist advice about a foot injury and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s concerns about “one of the worst” plastic pitches he has seen.
The Red Devils continue their Group L campaign in The Hague on Thursday evening, when the French World Cup winner will be among a number of high-profile absentees.
Pogba played the entirety of last week’s Carabao Cup penalty shootout win against Rochdale and the 1-1 Premier League draw with Arsenal on Monday, but an ongoing foot issue meant he did not travel with United ahead of the AZ fixture.
The club said in a statement: “Following a specialist’s opinion, Paul Pogba requires a period of further rest and conservative treatment for the foot injury he sustained during the game against Southampton in August. Updates will follow in due course.”
Solskjaer provided an update on Pogba’s situation at his press conference on Wednesday afternoon, with the United manager saying it would have been too much of a risk to play the midfielder on the poor artificial surface.
“It is after discussions with a specialist that we planned he needs further treatment and rest on his ankle,” Solskjaer said.
“And I probably wouldn’t risk him on AstroTurf anyway if he was available for this game, but he needs a bit of rest now.”
Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Phil Jones were others absent from the trip to The Hague, where AZ are having to play due to a roof collapse at their own stadium.
The match is being held 47 miles away at ADO Den Haag’s stadium, where the tired, plastic pitch shocked Solskjaer.
“I was surprised they have chosen to play on this pitch when I looked at it,” he said.
“I am used to AstroTurf pitches from back home in Norway and it is not the best I have seen. It is one of the worst ones I have seen for a long while.”
PA
