Massimiliano Allegri Says Paul Pogba 'Very, Very Unlikely' to Return to Juventus

Manchester United record signing Paul Pogba is "very, very unlikely" to return to former club Juventus, according to his old manager, Massimiliano Allegri.

Pogba, 25, left Old Trafford for Turin in 2012 and spent four years with the Bianconeri before returning to United for £89 million. It's been suggested in the past that a return could be on the cards, but the Juventus chief doesn't fancy his chances.

Allegri spoke to the media before his side's visit to Lazio on Sunday and was asked about the chances of a Pogba reunion: "Oh my... you [journalists] have such fantasies. I think that a return of Pogba to Juventus is very, very unlikely. I will not deceive myself, I think it will be really hard to see Pogba come back."

Speculation was unsurprisingly more prominent during Jose Mourinho's miserable months in charge of the team earlier this season, but the morale of Pogba and others has improved under interim coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Frenchman's form has come on a lot more since the Norwegian arrived at the helm, but Sky Sports Statto attested to him having a big impact in attack over the course of this season:

That said, it's significant that five of Pogba's 10 goals this season have come in his last five league outings—there's little telling what he might have done had Solksjaer been at the helm all season.

Pogba's move back to Old Trafford was poetic, signalled as the return of the prodigal son and one destined to lift spirits at the Theatre of Dreams. He won four consecutive Scudetto titles in Italy, and United have managed to satiate his appetite for silverware in part by winning the UEFA Europa League and a League Cup.

The Red Devils finished a distant second to Manchester City in the Premier League last season and are currently sixth in the table, level on points with Arsenal in fifth and only three points off the top four.

While the crown itself may be well out of reach, Pogba spoke of the renewed joy at United, brought on by the arrival of former Old Trafford favourite Solskjaer, who has won his first eight games in charge, via the Guardian:

Juventus demonstrated some swagger in the transfer market by signing Cristiano Ronaldo for £100 million last summer, but that signing was way outside their usual spending means. It seems unlikely deals of that scale will become a trend for the Old Lady, and Pogba could be expected to cost significantly more than that.

The parameters were far different when the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner first left Manchester for Italy, as journalist JJ Bull recently touched upon:

Allegri seems all too aware of the obstacles that would prevent the two parties reuniting in future, not the least of which is Pogba's fast-improving form back at Old Trafford.