SHOULD UNITED RETAIN PAUL POGBA?

by Silvio Scicluna

And he hit the ground running in his first season back. He was a midfield powerhouse and helped United to League Cup and Europa League triumphs. The second season was less successful although it has to be said that a hamstring injury early on did derail his progress somewhat. Worryingly though, the first signs of disharmony with Mourinho began surfacing and there were instances when he was criticised for not fulfilling his defensive duties and eventually dropped. The third season started well enough with Pogba scoring plenty of goals, penalties mostly, and generally carrying the team in

Just as I was starting to prepare to write this article, as if to inspire me further, agent Mino Raiola has just given an exclusive interview to Sky Sports. For those of you who don’t know who Raiola is, he’s the super‑agent whose prized client is none other than our mercurial Frenchman Paul Pogba. And the answer to the question in the article title can only be answered by taking a holistic perspective that includes Raiola in the package. Cast your minds back to the close season of 2012. Many believe that it was Raiola who convinced Pogba to leave United at the end of his contract and join Juventus for a nominal fee. Sir Alex Ferguson wrote in his autobiography of his dislike for Raiola and the difficulties he encountered in his dealings with him.

And so it was that Pogba moved to Turin that summer and to be fair, the move was an unparalleled success. One that really catapulted him on to the world stage and brought him trophies and plaudits aplenty. And with every spectacular goal Pogba scored and with every match winning performance he gave throughout his four years in Italy, the angst each United fan felt was not insignificant. It always hurt to see the one who got away, the prized catch who slipped through the net flourishing in another team’s colours. So when in the summer of 2016, the rumours that United were seriously considering buying Pogba back started to gather pace, many United fans were excited. And, true enough on the 8 th of August, Paul Pogba became the fourth and final summer signing of Jose Mourinho’s first season at Old Trafford. The prodigal son had returned.

Going back to Raiola’s interview, in all fairness he admitted that when Pogba re‑joined United in 2016, it was because the player himself insisted. According to his agent, there were many other clubs, big clubs, who wanted Paul that summer but Pogba had eyes only for United. Because this is what we have to keep in mind. This is what many are not factoring in when discussing the merits or otherwise of keeping Paul Pogba at Manchester United. He loves the club. He came back because, for him, Manchester is a spiritual home. Carrington was the place where he honed his undoubted talents and where he forged friendships for life with his fellow academy graduates.

his stint as captain in Antonio Valencia’s absence. But this was the season when his relationship with Mourinho was fractured beyond repair after the pair had an argument during a training session that was caught on camera. Could this have played a part in the club eventually sacking Mourinho? Maybe, but we’ll never know until either of them or someone high up at the club comes out and states it, which I doubt will ever occur. Do I have my suspicions that Pogba was secretly happy to see the back of Mourinho? Yes, but I don’t believe their strained relationship was the only reason why Jose was sacked. The dressing room had turned toxic and, sure enough, when Solskjaer came in, Pogba was rejuvenated, as all the team was really, and a sustained winning run followed with Pogba at the heart of it. Unfortunately the season fizzled out and Pogba’s form suffered. Probably the long season that had started so triumphantly when he became a World Cup winner with France the previous summer finally caught up with him in the end. So far, this season has been one to forget for Pogba who has been missing for the majority of it with an ankle injury that has required surgery and, as I write, it is still uncertain as to when we’ll see him back on the pitch.

But Paul Pogba is such a huge personality that even in his absence from the playing field he seems to generate so much interest. His social media activity seems to jar with a lot of fans and pundits. It’s as if he cannot live his life in public if he’s not playing due to injury. This to me is unfair on Pogba and he seems to be picked upon because of his fun loving and larger than life character.

An important point Raiola mentioned in his interview, however, is the fact that ultimately Paul Pogba wants to win major trophies. He is ambitious and rightly so wants his to look back on his career when he retires and admire the medals of the trophies he’d have won with his clubs. For sure he wants to win the Premier League and Champions League at some point, preferably more than once. Ideally, he will win these with Manchester United.

But, as they say, it takes two to tango. The club have to match his ambitions. They have to show everyone that they mean business. That their project is aimed to generate success primarily on the football pitch and not only in financial terms. This can only truly be done by strengthening the side with the right signings and build a successful squad once again. This would surely placate Pogba and Raiola and then the onus would be on Paul to rise to the challenge. Last summer he himself admitted that he felt that maybe it was time for a new challenge in his career. If United match his ambition, then he’ll have no excuse. He will have to raise his game to the superstar level that everyone knows he can be. If he does, the question of whether United should retain Pogba, which as you will have gathered, I obviously think that yes, they should, will no longer be raised.