L’Équipe report that French international midfielder Paul Pogba remains hell-bent on departing Manchester United, in a move that will probably occur next summer.
In a bit more than 4 months, Paul Pogba has played 6 matches. At the end of August, Pogba suffered sensory loss over the medial aspect of the lower leg, specifically in the area above the medial malleolus.
This prevented him from joining up with France in September, which hit him hard mentally. Les Bleus in recent times have been a welcome holiday for Pogba, a place where he actually enjoys football to escape from Manchester United.
From June and Pogba’s public expression of his desire to leave, to the beginning of August when the English transfer window closed, in that period, the player thought that his dream of joining Real Madrid was going to be fulfilled. He had spoken to Zinedine Zidane on the phone and thought that he would be joining Eden Hazard in Madrid.
But Manchester United’s demands were viewed as too much by Los Blancos. They wanted at least €150m. Since then, Pogba has not recovered psychologically. His performances suffered, they were far from his usual level, and off the pitch, he was targeted with racist insults by so-called Manchester United fans.
In private, he appeared resigned to the fact that he would have to wait for his move, much like Eden Hazard last year.
Finally, he is back fit – it was initially envisaged that he would play against Manchester City tomorrow. But it appears instead that he will make his return on 18th December against Colchester in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.
Manchester United are utterly inflexible and are blocking Pogba from leaving the club next month. The player would certainly not view it as an inconvenience to leave this winter, but he won’t take it to a breaking point showdown if he isn’t able to leave in January.
With 18 months left on his contract with the Red Devils, it is very unlikely that the French international will sign a new deal with Manchester United. If he is to move in summer, he wants it done early, before EURO 2020, and he wants the destination to be Real Madrid.
But the power is in Manchester United’s hands. If they ask for €150m again, we are in for another Pogsaga…
