Manchester United signed midfielder Paul Pogba in August 2016 from Juventus for £89.3 million. His return to Old Trafford was to spark a renaissance for the Red Devils along with the arrival of then-manager Jose Mourinho. Despite winning the League Cup and Europa League trophy in 2016-17, Pogba has declined in subsequent seasons in terms of impact despite his stats being semi-respectable.
This season has seen the French World Cup Winner play a mere seven times in the Premier League scoring zero goals. Out since the 28th of December for a third layoff of the season, Manchester United are claimed to be ready to cut their ties with Pogba for a second time.
Pogba to go in 2020?
After attempting to force a transfer last summer, a large number of Manchester United fans have claimed Pogba has faked his foot/ankle injury this season. Manchester United have had issues with players being injured and unfit for matches. Pogba’s injury issues have left Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with fewer options in his midfield.
Paul Pogba is 27 next month and I can’t believe it, signed him back at 23, nearly 4 years on and he’s still not left despite how awful we’ve been. He deserves his move for the sake of his own Career. pic.twitter.com/nPKQqIrM3p
— Jay (@NotoriousManc) February 6, 2020
Pogba has been linked with an exit from Old Trafford in each of the last two transfer windows. Real Madrid are one team rumoured to be a destination for Pogba. However, Juventus are also interested in bringing him back to Serie A.
Reports coming from Manchester that Paul Pogba has already told to his close friends: 'I will leave this club, I'll go where they love me.' [TuttoSport / Manchester evening news] pic.twitter.com/7JhlEIHkzp
— Forza Juventus (@ForzaJuve2017) February 6, 2020
The Metro claims a £150 million price tag has been put on Pogba. It is a large sum especially with Pogba playing just eight times in all competitions this term. The midfielder’s contract at Manchester United expires in the summer of 2021 and despite a lack of match time, Transfermarkt claims Pogba is still worth £90m.
Selling Pogba could help Manchester United re-build its squad. The Red Devils sold Romelu Lukaku last summer for over £70m and re-invested that money into Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Despite their improvement of the Red Devils defence, both have shown their weaknesses at times during the season.
This is what we should do in the summer:
SELL:
De Gea- £70M
Pogba- £125M
Shaw- £25M
Smalling- £15M
Matic- £10M
Lingard- £25M
Alexis- £10M£270M
Buy:
Koulibaly- £80M
Chilwell- £50M
Soumare- £40M
Grealish- £50M
Sancho- £110M£330M
£60M net spend.
— Oli (@UtdOli) February 6, 2020
Re-building the Red Devils
If Manchester United could get £150m for Pogba, they could finally add the goalscorer they desperately need. Odion Ighalo’s loan signing on transfer deadline day from Shanghai Shenhua showed the lack of finances available for top transfers.
It also shows the club isn’t one players want to move to like in previous seasons. Paulo Dybala and other top goalscorers that have been linked are not making the jump to Old Trafford.
Another high-quality midfielder is also needed despite the signing of Bruno Fernandes. The jury is still out on the January signing although plenty of fans and pundits are already claiming the team has improved immensely with him in the side. Manchester United could only draw nil-nil versus Wolverhampton Wanderers in Fernandes’ debut.
So, will Pogba stay or will he go? Like the Fernades transfer saga, this is bound to go on for months.