On the eve of their must-not-lose Champions League group stage finale at RB Leipzig, Manchester’s United preparations were thrown into chaos by Paul Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola’s untimely but deliberate comments.
Raiola said his client’s time at Old Trafford was ‘over’ – overshadowing the Red Devils’ focus on their game in Germany. A day later and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were dumped out of the competition after a 3-2 defeat – which saw Pogba start as a substitute.
The furore over Pogba and Raiola has continued and United now must regroup ahead of the small matter of ‘noisy neighbours’ Manchester City coming to visit on Saturday evening for the Manchester derby in the Premier League. Here, Scott Patterson of United fanzine the Republik of Mancunia, outlines why the club must get rid of their France World Cup-winning midfielder.
Paul Pogba has divided the Manchester United fan base since before he even returned to the club in the summer of 2016, with many happy that a player with huge potential would be wearing the shirt again, while others hadn’t got over him choosing to leave the club in the first place.
Sir Alex Ferguson referred to his agent, the notorious Mino Raiola, as a ‘s***bag’ and when Pogba signed for Juventus he was less than impressed with the pair.
‘I don’t think he showed us any respect at all,’ he said. ‘To be honest, if they carry on that way, I’m quite happy that he’s away, from me, anyway.’
Paul Pogba allowed his agent to overshadow Manchester United’s preparations at RB Leipzig
Mino Raiola (left) has caused a stir at United by declaring Paul Pogba’s time there is ‘over’
Raiola already has a turbulent relationship with Manchester United and this will add to that
Pogba, pictured here with his outspoken Italian agent in 2016, has angered United supporters
Legendary ex-United boss Sir Alex Ferguson branded Raiola a ‘s***bag’ after past dealings
Almost a decade has passed but you can imagine Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saying the exact same, in private at least, when Pogba finally gets the move he’s been publicly asking for over recent years.
There is so much unfair criticism thrown at Pogba, with commentators bizarrely obsessed over his latest haircut or dance move, but it’s been hard for even the staunchest defender of his to fight his corner this week.
Ahead of the biggest few days of the season so far, with United taking on the Champions League group-deciding game against RB Leipzig before playing rivals Manchester City, Raiola gave another damning interview on his view of United and his client’s desire to leave the club.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. While Solskjaer claims the decision to leave the midfielder out was tactical, it’s easy to see why he felt he couldn’t start someone who let it be known he was no longer committed to the club.
Pogba came off the bench and provided some hope to supporters, with him finding Mason Greenwood in the box to win a penalty before heading the ball goalwards to create Konate’s own goal. Would United still be in the Champions League if the Frenchman had played from the start?
Pogba’s exit would make United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s job easier due to no Raiola
Solskjaer was forced to bench Pogba for the must-not-lose clash at Leipzig due to the drama
However, the Red Devils crashed out of the Champions League group stages with a 3-2 defeat
Pogba shouldn’t be turned in to a scapegoat, as the responsibility lies with Solskjaer to get the tactics right and the players to stop making amateur-level mistakes, but his lack of commitment was a headache the manager could have done without ahead of kick-off.
Within hours of a false story breaking that he had retired from the national team earlier this year, Pogba immediately took to social media to correct it. But as has always been the case when Raiola has revealed the player wants to leave, Pogba’s silence was deafening.
In the past, United fans have turned a blind eye to some extent to the disloyalty from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and David de Gea, but their incredible contribution to the club, both in times of relative success and failure, meant fans were desperate to cling on to them.
But what has Pogba done for United to mean this behaviour should be tolerated? That’s not to say he’s been as awful as some people claim but he hasn’t ever carried the team in the way plenty of others have before him.
Wayne Rooney (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo both tried to force their way out of United during their spells there – but the difference was they both achieved success at the club as well
If Pogba didn’t want his paid representative to destabilise the club ahead of a huge week, it wouldn’t have happened. The dwindling number of United fans who still back the midfielder have suggested Raiola is speaking against the player’s wishes, despite Pogba never correcting him, but that is totally naive.
United can’t keep a player who has so clearly put himself above the club, choosing the worst possible time to let his feelings known, regardless of how much potential or ability he has.
At this point, it’s not even about whether Pogba is right to want to leave or not. He’s a World Cup winner who has spent the peak years of his career at a club that is so badly mismanaged he doesn’t have the top tier domestic trophies he could have won elsewhere, and did win at Juve.
But the way he has chosen to force his way out, showing no regard for the club who nurtured him as a teen and paid a world record fee to bring him back, leaves his place at United untenable, which is seemingly exactly what he wants.
Pogba is a talent but his place at United is untenable – the end result he has seemingly wanted