EPl 2016-17: Paul Pogba suspended for Manchester United's season opener
After completing his much-anticipated move to Manchester United, Paul Pogba was expected to make his debut for the Red Devils against Bournemouth at Turf Moor. But, the fans are in for a bad news as the FA has just announced a list of four players suspended for the first game on its Twitter account.
The 23-year-old was supposed to be included in the matchday squad to travel to face the Cherries but now the earliest date on which he can make his United debut is against Southampton on August 19th.
A flurry of tweets asking the explanation for his suspension prompted the FA to clarify on twitter saying, "He was booked twice in last season's Coppa Italia, which results in a one-game ban. This has been transferred". The Frenchman received two yellow cards in his last two games for Juventus including a yellow in the cup final against AC Milan which the Italian champions won.
FA rules state that any player serving a ban in another country will have that suspension carried over, even if they leave that league and join the Premier League. He was handed a single game ban by the Italian Football Federation and will now miss the starting game of United's league campaign in which they are title contenders following his arrival along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Chris Smalling is the other Man Utd player to be suspended for the away game against Eddie Howe's side after receiving two yellow cards in the FA cup final against Crystal Palace which the Red Devils won thanks to a Jesse Lingard winner, in what turned out to be LVG's last game in charge for Manchester United.
Robert Huth is the third player to be banned for the first match and he has received a three-match suspension for violent conduct which he was guilty of in the game against United last campaign. Huth and Fellaini were involved in a clash which was not seen by the Referee but was caught on video by the FA.
Moussa Dembele from Spurs will continue to serve his six-match suspension which he received for scratching Diego Costa's eye in an I'll tempered Clash last season at Stamford Bridge. Dembele has served two match suspension out of the given six and will now miss the first four games of Spurs' campaign.