The transfer saga to end all transfer sagas, Paul Pogba’s long-term future at Manchester United has been the subject of great debate. The France World Cup winner re-joined the club from Juventus back in 2016 for a then world-record fee of £89m, but since then, the jury has been out on his performances.
The maverick midfielder has flattered to deceive on occasion, often coming under criticism from sections of the United faithful for his displays. Things appeared to come to the boil at the end of last season when footage emerged of Pogba being involved in an altercation with a group of Red Devils supporters at Old Trafford.
And when the 26-year-old publicly admitted he would embrace a “new challenge” over the summer, speculation intensified over a potential return to Juventus, or a high-profile move to Real Madrid. Neither materialised before the end of the deadline however, but that didn’t stop the Frenchman from suggesting there is still a “question mark” over his future earlier this season.
The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…
Despite United continuing to struggle on the pitch – they have just nine points from their opening eight Premier League games – should the club finally cut their losses on their big-money star? Football FanCast writers have given their thoughts on the situation below…
Matt Dawson
“For the sake of probably everyone in football, including Paul Pogba, this is a saga that I would love to see end. It’s driven on for longer than I think anyone could imagine and one way or another, it has to come to a conclusion soon.
“Pogba is a wonderful player and his impact at the World Cup in 2018 shows that – he was influential in scoring in the final and was fouled a career-high 2.8 times per game. The fact he also scored 13 times in the Premier League last season shows how good he is.
“Those performances have rather gone under the radar, however, and perhaps that’s down to the managerial circus that’s ensued. Jose Mourinho’s defensive style didn’t particularly lend itself to the Frenchman while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s record at a win percentage of just 47.5% won’t have helped either.
“This saga could boil down to whether Solskjaer leaves. If United replace him, a new manager could be game-changing. That’s especially if they get Max Allegri as has been touted. Under the Italian, Pogba scored 20 times and grabbed 26 assists in just 90 games. That record speaks for itself. There’s plenty of ifs and buts in this but for now, United shouldn’t cut their losses.
Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
“Given the right platform, he’s someone who could just turn their fortunes around. Whether it happens or not remains to be seen.“
Charles Jones “Personally, I don’t think United should consider getting rid of Paul Pogba. Although the Frenchman hasn’t been at the races so far this season he’s one of their only players that you could genuinely describe as world-class, and you just can’t trust the board to reinvest any money they’d get for Pogba.“This is the same team that paid £47m for Fred, and if they were to sell Pogba and make another blunder like that it’d be disastrous. Pogba is worth more to United than £100m is in Ed Woodward’s hands, so unless the Red Devils have a good replacement lined up then they shouldn’t consider cashing in.”Billy Meyers“I think it was a ridiculous decision not to let Paul Pogba go in the summer – the Frenchman couldn’t have made it more obvious that he wants to leave. In fairness to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, one thing that he has been good at is shipping out the deadwood, and I think Pogba now falls under that category despite his obvious, world-class talent. “Jose Mourinho once described him as a ‘virus’ in the dressing room, and while I cannot second that in any concrete way, the former Juventus man is now akin to an infection at Old Trafford in the sense that he doesn’t want to be there. Holding a player against his will is never a smart idea, and the only thing United have achieved in keeping Pogba at the club is delaying the inevitable. The sooner they can sell this soap opera of a player, the better.”Vijievan Jeevathayalan“On his day, Paul Pogba has the ability to turn games on its head. Look no further than his starring second-half performance against Manchester City at the Etihad back in April 2018. The midfielder’s quick-fire brace set Manchester United on their way to a remarkable turnaround to clinch a stunning victory at the home of their ‘noisy neighbours’. “But the fact that display came about 18 months ago and is still the reference point for the Frenchman’s most promising performance speaks volumes about just how little significant impact he has had on the Red Devils. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is admirably trying to take United in a different direction, and has already shunted the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez out the exit door. The time is now right for him to do the same with Pogba too.”
