What will Manchester United do with Paul Pogba come the winter or summer transfer window?
Paul Pogba’s time at Manchester United after making his record-breaking transfer of £89.3 million from Juventus saw a bright start but has since taken a massive downward spiral. The midfielder’s best days in red came under the manager he despised the most, Jose Mourinho.
Since the new Spurs’ boss departed Old Trafford, not much has changed for the better for the Frenchman. In fact, it has actually gotten a lot worse. The only constant, the players comments about Real Madrid and the fact he looks more eager to leave rather than stay.
Remembering Pogba’s dream
After being heavily linked with a move away from the Manchester club last season, when things under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were looking gloomy, he seemed destined to leave England for Spain or Italy.
Thankfully, a turnaround in results and securing Champions League football by the skin of their teeth, convinced him things could get better under Ole. No move transpired during the summer and the player gave a refreshed impression he was ready to wear his Red Devils’ shirt with pride.
The joke was on us… Immediately after the window shut for the summer, Paul Pogba already started flirting with clubs who were not Man United. In an interview, while on international duty, the player spoke again of his dream move (that he shares with every other footballer) that was a switch to Real Madrid.
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Then came the club’s reaction to this. They exercised their right as his employers and triggered his year extension, keeping him on for an extra cycle (contract expires in 2022) at the Theatre of Dreams. A major worry was the chances of him leaving on a free next summer.
"The Old Trafford club on Friday evening declared that they have triggered Paul Pogba’s one-year extension. The World Cup winner is now indebted to them till 2022, squashing any thoughts of him leaving on a free next summer.this comes almost immediately after the player spoke of his “dream”. What’s that dream? The dream to one day be named a Galáctico. (Via: The Top Flight)"
If/when he does leave, the club must make some funds back for the failed transfer, however, they will never recover the full sum of £89m but must make some millions back at least.
Recent comments from Didier Deschamps
France’s head coach, Didier Deschamps, is the latest who has come out to add his two cents to the Pogba-United problem. He didn’t hold back when giving his opinion. He bluntly stated the midfielder “must not be happy” at Old Trafford.
The World Cup winning boss spoke of Paul’s lack of playing time and him playing out of position, citing these two aforementioned factors as the reasons for him being unhappy with his current spell.
"Paul, I know him well and he knows the group well. He is in a situation with his club where he cannot be happy, neither with his playing time, nor with his positioning."
Is Pogba happy with anything at Man Utd? ☹ pic.twitter.com/y3ICWiLeJt
— GOAL (@goal) November 10, 2020
Quite frankly, this is becoming boring and is playing like a stuck record, a record stuck at a point where an alley cat is screeching. It needs to end! The speculation, the player’s lacklustre performers, and the unwelcomed comments.
Man United need to cut their losses and move the player on. He hasn’t been at his best for a long while. If he is unhappy at the club, it is showing in each of his displays. The moment he pulls on his country colours, the man looks a prime Xavi cross-bred with Andrés Iniesta.
The English outfit has already seen some positive signs when new signing Donny van de Beek is on the pitch. The midfield has also suffered this season trying to fit Pogba and Bruno Fernandes together on the pitch. There are many things they can do with the money if they were to sell.
This season he has been below average and has seen his worst return as a player. He is yet to contribute to a Premier League goal while he has only scored once and assisted a further two goals in cup competitions.
He’s already played 530 minutes of football. He has taken part in 11 games this season, starting five of them. A poor return for a player who was once the most expensive transfer in the game.
If triggering his year extension was a step towards selling him, then United are on the right path and have been one step ahead of us all. If they don’t, they will suffer every international break. Sometimes you just got to know when to pull the plug on something. Now is the time for them to pull the plug on the Frenchman.