Exposed to COVID-19 Becomes Reason for French National Team to Cross Out Paul Pogba

DBasia.news – The name of Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has been dropped from the France squad after being tested positive for the coronavirus, said coach Didier Deschamps.

The 27-year-old midfielder has been called up to the World Cup winners squad for upcoming matches against Croatia and Sweden but has now had to drop his name.

“I was forced at the last minute to make changes to the squad list. Paul Pobga was on this list. Unfortunately, he took the test yesterday, which turned out to be positive,” Deschamps said as quoted by Goal.

“So at the last moment, I had to replace him with Eduardo Camavinga.”

Deschamps chose midfielder Rennes Camavinga as a replacement for Pogba, while international team-mate Tanguy Ndombele from Tottenham is also out.

That means Pogba will have to go into a 14-day quarantine period, meaning he will miss the start of Manchester United’s pre-season preparations.

The pre-season preparations for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad will begin next week after their 2019-20 season reaches the semi-finals of the Europa League.

Pogba is likely to play United’s Premier League first match against Crystal Palace on September 19th. Pogba is said to be asymptomatic, but a positive test result means that Deschamps has no choice but to cross him out.

“Pogba has been dropped from the squad after testing positive for COVID-19. The midfielder will not be able to add 69 caps and 10 goals for his country in next month’s match,” said an official statement from Manchester United.