Opinion: Is Paul Pogba’s time at Manchester United up? | OneFootball

It only seems like yesterday when Manchester United announced the signing of Paul Pogba. He signed for what still remains to be United’s most expensive ever signing at a near ninety million pounds Pogba has endured a mixed stay at Old Trafford with inconsistency and off field drama featuring heavily throughout his stay and with rumours persisting linking the midfielder with a move away from the club we take a look at whether or not Pogba’s time at the theatre of dreams should come to an end.

Back in the summer of 2016 it was hard not to get excited about Pogba’s return to United. Having flourished at Juventus Pogba had become one of the best midfielders in European football and was very much a wanted man so when it was announced United had splashed out a then world record fee to land the midfielder you couldn’t help but feel excited.

Images of Stomzy dabbing and #POGBACK slogans all over social media still linger in the memory today. There have been few signings in United history that have created such excitement and drama. We had already got Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on board but signing Paul Pogba was the cherry on top of the cake and the signing we felt we needed to really make United genuine contenders for the Premier League Title but unfortunately this never materialised.

This isn’t to say Pogba has been a flop nor has he not been influential in helping United over the four years he has been at the club. He played a key part in United’s Europa League winning campaign in 2017 and helped United achieve their best ever finish (2nd) in the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. It was just that we expected so much more.

As time went by Pogba started to receive more criticism from sections of the media labelling the Frenchman’s performances inconsistent and had accused the midfielder of been more interested in his antics on social media than he was on his performances on the pitch for United and it would be that combination of inconsistency and social media antics which led to Pogba’s downfall at the club and this came to a head in 2018 with then head coach Jose Mourinho.

The fallout between the pair had become evident the longer 2018 went on and it had become clear that one had to go and that was of course Jose Mourinho. The row between the pair had created an uneasy atmosphere inside the club and it had affected United’s performances on the field too as United slipped into the bottom half of the league table.  The whole incident shown that players nowadays have the power compared to yester years under Sir Alex Ferguson where if a player had stepped out of line he would have been out the door like Beckham, Van Nistelrooy and the likes but now things were different and for me at least it just left an uneasy feeling about it all.

Mourinho’s departure from the club led to the arrival of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and although things initially started well for both Pogba and Solskjaer results started to go south from March onwards as United slipped further and further down the league with Pogba again failing to deliver on a consistent basis. One week he looked like looked like a world beater the midfielder who would take us onto the next level and the next you wondered why United had paid all that money for him there was just no consistency in his game and that would unfortunately be his downfall.

Fast forward to the present day and it seems clear Pogba wants a move away from Old Trafford and you get the feeling if United can get their money back or at least get close to the ninety million pounds they paid for him they would take it. Pogba hasn’t been a flop far from it in fact but he hasn’t been that Scholes type midfielder we had all hoped he would become and a move away from United now would probably be best for both parties.

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