Max Allegri on Paul Pogba: 'Right now, he's still a Juventus player'

For the first time in a couple of months, Max Allegri had a pre-match press conference on Friday evening in Australia. Of course, the match Juventus will play won't count on the official record with it being a friendly against Melbourne Victory. But the questions were real, the answers were real and the interest in what Allegri had to say was pretty much the same as every other time he speaks about his team and what they're up to.

It was only natural, considering the circumstances, that Juventus' third-year manager was asked about the status of one of his most important players, midfielder Paul Pogba. That's simply because there is no player being talked about more right now than Pogba, whose been the eye of Manchester United and Real Madrid for much of the summer.

What did Max have to say on the constant chatter that Pogba could very well be leaving Juventus this summer? This short and concise answer:

"Right now, Pogba is still a Juventus player. We don't know what will happen in the course of the next week, but we're confident."

(Side note: Allegri apparently had a laugh when he was asked about Pogba. At least he's finding a way to try and deal with all of the Pogba talk. What a guy he is.)

Of course, Pogba is THE player on the Juventus roster that people are paying attention to even though he's currently vacationing in Miami and playing basketball with the likes Romelu Lukaku. After a whirlwind Wednesday when it came to Pogba rumors, things were relatively quiet in the Italian press regarding the 23-year-old midfielder.

But don't you forget about the players that Juventus director general Beppe Marotta and sporting director Fabio Paratici have signed this summer in an attempt to strengthen the squad for a push to win a sixth straight Serie A title and a deep run in the Champions League.

"At the end of the transfer window we'll have a very strong team. Dani Alves, (Medhi) Benatia, (Miralem) Pjanic and (Marko) Pjaca have come in. When the window closes the team will be very strong."

On Saturday's International Champions Cup opener against Melbourne Victory:

"Tomorrow's match against Melbourne Victory will be very useful for us as far as fitness is concerned. Our other priority of course is to ensure that we don't pick up any injuries. Victory have won three titles and so we will need to approach the game in the correct manner. There will be opportunities for a lot of the boys to get some game time, even some of the younger lads."