Manchester United are building a team that plays for the badge in the front and not the name on the back and the France international doesn’t fit in
Paul Pogba’s return to Manchester United in the summer of 2016 had sent fans into a tizzy. Here was a young midfielder who had proven himself in Italy and was returning to his boyhood club as the world’s most expensive player. Ever eager to milk a marketing opportunity, the club went into overdrive, blowing up social media and inducting British rapper Stormzy for his unveiling. But the hype generated around the Frenchman’s return was just that — a hype.
In four nearly years at the club, the ‘prodigal son’ has won the UEFA Europa League, the League Cup, and the Community Shield — a paltry return on the £89m investment. His bigger contribution has been to rile an entire army of fans, getting Jose Mourinho the sack, and generally sulking throughout his time while pocketing a £290,000-a-week pay packet.
EXCESS BAGGAGE
United have only seen Pogba at his best in a handful of matches — he is too inconsistent to build a team around, despite manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s wishes. He needs to be coddled and cajoled into giving his best — something Mourinho refused to do.
In spite of that, the Frenchman felt that he had been successful enough during his time at Old Trafford to seek a fresh challenge. “After this season and everything that happened, with my season being my best season … it could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else,” he said following the 2018–19 season.
United fans are now realising how much of a problem child Pogba really is and, maybe, some are even sympathising with Sir Alex Ferguson’s refusal to deal with his agent, the infamous Mino Raiola, when he first left club.
Despite Pogba lobbying for a transfer, United refused to budge and reportedly set a price tag of over £150m for the player.
While that was the only instance of Pogba openly speaking out on a move away, his brother and Raiola keep up the pressure by regularly talking up a transfer.
Former United midfielder Paul Ince believes Pogba never truly settled at the club upon his return. “To me, it says that he’s known in the back of his head all of this time that he knows he’s made the wrong decision. He sensed that going back to Old Trafford was simply a bad idea,” the Daily Mail quoted the former England man as saying.
Ince also criticised the baggage that follows Pogba and his professionalism and blamed those representing the player for bringing unnecessary attention to the club.
“What’s disappointing is the way he’s acted, his behaviour and performances reflect that he’s been unsure about his decision.”
“The on the pitch performances, plus his behaviour off the pitch, with his agent and generally acting up, isn’t good for the club. So his time for me is up,” Ince added.
Solkskjaer himself has spoken of the disruptive elements in the club. “I’d rather have a hole in the squad than an a-hole. Personality is so important. We’re a team in a team environment,” he said. In all likelihood, he was alluding to Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, both of whom were shipped out to Inter Milan in the summer.
Getting rid of Pogba would be a pragmatic decision and remove a genuine problem.
TRANSFER POLICY
United’s transfer policy under Solskjaer has been to bring in young, ambitious players, alongside a few older and more experienced heads to steady the ship.
The club brought in Bruno Fernandes for £46m this winter and his arrival has sparked the most consistent run in a lacklustre season. This is a player who wants to get on the pitch and give it his all, and this mentality has already won him a legion of fans. Solskjaer would do well to build the team around the Portuguese.
The Norwegian former striker could be forgiven for salivating at the prospect of a Pogba-Fernandes midfield, but the Portuguese international has flourished without the Frenchman, who has been limited to eight matches due to injuries this season, and there is no need to disrupt that momentum.
That’s not to say that Pogba is a bad player. The Frenchman has been brilliant for the national team, winning the FIFA World Cup in 2018, and was a standout player in Juventus’s star-studded team. It is just that his return to United came at the wrong time.
The world of sports, especially football, will change following the novel coronavirus outbreak. The inflation in transfer fees post Neymar’s move to Paris Saint Germain might be a thing of the past and United would not be able to demand the astronomical sum they feel a player of Pogba’s calibre deserves.
But this is not the first time that has happened, with the club losing money on both Lukaku and Angel di Maria. They should take a fair value for Pogba in this climate and get rid of him. The baggage that he brings is too much for United to handle at this point in its history.
The views expressed in this blog are the author’s unless otherwise mentioned.
Vantage Point 