Paul Pogba’s six-year stay at Manchester United since his return in 2016 has been disastrous and you’ll struggle to find a regular attendee at Old Trafford who won’t be delighted to see the back of him this summer.
Pogba has flirted with the idea of joining other members of Europe’s elite clubs for years and with his contract set to expire at the end of June, it looks like the Frenchman is leaving on a free transfer for the second time in a decade.
The 29-year-old sustained a muscle injury in his last appearance for United, which could rule him out for the rest of the season, according to interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
According to the Daily Star, Pogba has been offered to Manchester City this summer but the Premier League champions reportedly rejected the chance to sign United’s wantaway star. Pep Guardiola is said to have rejected Mino Raiola’s approach, similar to the situation which caused unrest with Jose Mourinho in 2018.
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SN’s verdict…
Manchester City are chasing a second consecutive Premier League title and fourth in five years, it makes no sense to bring in a 29-year-old, injury-prone midfielder on astronomical wages.
In truth, City’s recruitment model is nearly flawless and I can’t think of any scenario where Pogba would emerge as a candidate to strengthen their side.
A return to Juventus seems far more plausible. Perhaps joining a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain is also on the agenda but regardless of where he ends up, United officials will be delighted to have moved on Pogba.
Very correct. Manchester United should of load Pogba and his excess baggage (Mino Riola), he has been more of a distraction to the progress of the team. His infectious toxic nature started rubbing off on the team straight right after he teamed up with Bruno Fernandes following his long injury layoff. In my mind, he should have been sold when Bruno came in and have Jersey Lingard take his place but then the club’s management should better explain why the over hyped and over pampered 29 year old baby with prohibitive wages is still in our pay role.
His wages alone is enough to cause a downward slope in the commitment and output of his team mates. Definitely as one of the highest earners in the club it is easy to see his overall contributions to the team or rather lack of it. This obviously negatively impacts on the younger players in particular and the team in general. Compare him to Bruno Fernandes who have only recently had a poor season. I think people like Pogba, Harry Magwaire, Diego Dallot, Alex Telles, Luke Shaw, Mctominny, Eric Baily, Juan Mata, Nimanja Matic, Phil Jones, Edison Cavani, Dean Henderson, and Lindelof, should be off our books for a major overhaul this season. Sir Alex Fergusson did it for us, Lampard did it for Chelsea, Guardiolla, did it for Manchester City and we can all see the result. Not taking anything away from the talent of the present playing squard , I think we need to start anew to build a never say die spirit that Man United is known for, the spirit that popularized our much talked about ‘Fergie time’. Now that we will have a new coach let us throw out the deadwoods so that he can build for us a winning team and bring back our glory days.