Serie A news round-up: Pogba handed four-year ban, Chiesa worry for Juventus, Milan return for Tomori | OneFootball

Paul Pogba was officially handed a four-year ban over doping charges on Thursday morning. Juventus also have concerns over the availability of Federico Chiesa after a training ground injury on Wednesday, but Inter and Milan have received more positive updates on Davide Frattesi and Fikayo Tomori respectively.

Pogba was officially handed a four-year suspension by the anti-doping tribunal in Italy on Thursday morning. The former Manchester United midfielder failed a routine doping test during the Old Lady’s Serie A opener against Udinese on August 20. That game ended in a 3-0 victory for Max Allegri’s side, with Pogba left on the bench as an unused substitute.

Pogba was found to have traces of DHEA in his system, a substance which can cause raised levels of testosterone. The results were confirmed by a second round of testing conducted in October. The anti-doping tribunal has now accepted the FIGC prosecutor’s request of a four-year ban, which was confirmed on Thursday.

In other worrying news for Juventus, Chiesa is still feeling the effects of a training ground incident with Alex Sandro on Wednesday. The Italy international was on the receiving end of an accidentally strong challenge from his teammate, which caused Chiesa to sit out of Thursday’s session at the Juventus Training Centre.

The Bianconeri will have to monitor the situation day-by-day ahead of Sunday evening’s clash against reigning Serie A champions Napoli.

Meanwhile for Inter, Davide Frattesi is not expected to be sidelined for too long after being brought on as a substitute and then subbed off again nine minutes later during the 4-0 victory over Atalanta on Wednesday.

He could potentially still be involved against Genoa on Monday evening, when Inter will take to the field in a set of special edition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed shirts.

Reports in Italy also suggest that Inter are closing in on an agreement with a new front-of-shirt sponsor ahead of the 2024-25 season.

ahead of Friday’s trip to Rome to face Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio. The Rossoneri coach confirmed that Fikayo Tomori will be in the travelling squad for the first time in over two months.