Here are 10 rock solid reasons to help you defog!<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been top class and we\u2019re looking to build a team around him!\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That is what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer proudly proclaimed about Paul Pogba in a press conference end last December. And it\u2019s already yesterday\u2019s stale news that the feisty Manchester United manager is still clinging obdurately to his guns to have the talented French World Cup midfielder on his leash at Old Trafford.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The calls, more like heckling, for Manchester United to put Pogba firmly in his place and pack him off with his agent Mina Raiola lock, stock and barrel have been increasingly raucous since the player intimated his true desires of wanting a new challenge elsewhere. Which clearly means, to Pogba at least, that Man United is no longer able to provide him with any new exciting challenges anymore to tickle his saddle-itchy butt. Hence the ongoing argument has arisen in various quarters, not least among which are the multitudes of irate fans who\u2019ve had enough of the Pogba-Raiola clusterf****, to end his contract and allow him to exit graciously this summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The arguments, unfortunately for those not enamoured of the Frenchman, actually favour Pogba staying back at Old Trafford for at least another season or so.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019re some of the 10 simple reasons why:<\/span><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Pogba, being the pin-up poster boy of the commercial side of football with its financial ramifications, is as much a bankable star off the pitch as he is on it. <\/strong><\/p>\n Having prudently leveraged on his marketability in 2016 when they signed him from Juventus for a then world record fee of \u00a389m, it has been three years since then but the move has resulted in a stalemate for club and player, apart from the early initial budding fruits of what promised to be an immensely fruitful partnership then.<\/p>\n Now, one of the main things looming in the way of Pogba\u2019s desire to cut ties with United are the vicissitudes in the world of football finances. Even if Manchester United are willing to release him for whatever inexplicable reasons, they would be hard pressed to let the midfielder go for any fee less than \u00a3160m. But realistically is this a figure Real Madrid, Barcelona or Juventus are prepared to pay?<\/p>\n 2. The 26-year-old had his best season as a footballer in the 2018\/19 campaign, without a doubt.<\/strong><\/p>\n His sizzling performances were churned out when Manchester United looked then to be one of the top contenders in the Premier League. Within this enchanting spell of about two months under Solskjaer, Pogba mesmerised fans and critics alike. Quick hit on the fast-forward button and suddenly his inconsistency became noticeable and has since grown to be a sore bone of contention for Manchester United\u2019s volatile but football-savvy fans. Many have since jumped over the fence and are in agreement with maestro manager Jose Mourinho\u2019s assessment of Pogba being no doubt an extremely talented player but one way too inconsistent to be the key cog in the vehicular machinery of a team still undergoing major work in progress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It would not look in any way reflect well on either the manager or the club to have Pogba turned out so soon in the proceedings. After all, so much fuss, hue and cry had been made of his donning United\u2019s colours as their hot hitman-on-target so how could they just hush this all up so suddenly? Especialy when wonder boy\u2019s appearances on the pitch have been so rare and infrequent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s again about pride and not losing face. Maintain the bold front at all costs and just assume all others, especially the fans, are myopic or better stll, blind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Paul Pogba, to be fair to him on all fronts, is fast approaching the peak years of his football career.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n There are lots more he could accomplish with his talent and superb skills and flair. Unfortunately for him at the moment, Manchester United is not in any position to be able to mount any serious challenges for the Premier League or the Champions League anytime soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So why then would the talented French World Cup star want to needlessly frustrate himself and to stay back at a club that he knows by now is not able to help advance his achievements and stature in the international arena in the immediatefuture? No one would dare dismiss the possibility of Manchester United regaining their past glories and reach the pinnacles of football supremacy again one day but time is not something Pogba has to waste and wait indefinitely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is the continuation of our other reasons why Paul Pogba and United would not be coming to an amicable parting of ways anytime soon:<\/span><\/p>\n 3The \u2018Coutinho effect\u2019 \u2013 Liverpool was able to happily plug the gaps with the big bundle of mullahs they got from Barcelona on the Coutinho deal. It\u2019s been conveniently suggested that Manchester United could well do the same were they to negotiate the figure they want for a well-timed, opportune Pogba departure that wouldn\u2019t leave a bitter aftertaste for all parties involved. <\/span> 4. <\/strong>With the exception of perhaps Lionel Messi, no other footballer on God\u2019s green earth today can run the show alone on the pitch, Pogba definitely included. <\/strong><\/p>\n Although Pogba is still, lamentably for United, the only world-class outfield player in the current Manchester United squad despite loads of punditry circulating about what he cannot do, Solskjaer yet finds him most valuable for whatever things the French midfielder can do on his good days. Hence the manager\u2019s continued desperation to keep him strapped to his side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Solskjaer is only too aware that his team certainly played their best football when the Frenchman was spot on last season. But then let\u2019s hold our horses and not get carried away here too hastily \u2013 let\u2019s not conveniently forget that some of the most lacklustre United performances also came when the midfielder was not at his inspired best. When Manchester United needed real inspiration and dynamism towards the end of the season, the best player they naturally turned to failed to provide it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 5. Opponents began to man-mark Pogba, realising he was the creative hub of Solskjaer\u2019s side<\/strong><\/p>\n Rival teams had wisened up by then and realised that the moment Pogba was shut down, that meant effectively shutting down Manchester United too. Which in itself is a most scary thought. Granted that the best players inevitably get man-marked but this becomes a problem for any team when that best player is head and shoulders above the rest in the team, without others able to make up for his creative midfield maneuvres when he is shackled. In Pogba\u2019s case, the moment he\u2019s effectively locked down on the pitch, the team is in disarray, devoid of any dynamism in midfield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is the conundrum and the stark reality United face if Pogba were to be taken out of the equation totally. Many top teams in the world do not have this issue haunting them as they can rely on other equally talented players to fill the gap.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Manchester United can\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To keep Pogba or just hawk him off?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Punditry aside so as not to further obfuscate the issue, it is not just about agreeing on a selling price that both seller and buyer are happy about, bag the cash, let him go on his merry way to his new playground and quickly sign on a brood of new hot players. The nuances surrounding the issue are indeed more complex and too befuddling a puzzle than meets the eye.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Taken head on, there are more arguments favouring Manchester United maintaining Pogba\u2019s involvement at United both in terms of his playing and also because of his poster boy commercial popularity, regardless of what the player himself truly wants. And here is the run on of the other salient reasons why Paul Pogba\u2019s lingering presence would still be felt at Old Trafford for some time more to come:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 6. Liverpool and Manchester City unquestionably rank amongst the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me<\/i>\u00a0 football teams in Europe currently. <\/strong><\/p>\n Rival teams\u00a0would be foolhardy to stake their bets on any singular strategy like marking one or two key strikers in either Guardiola or Klopp\u2019s side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the case of City, one of the reasons why they\u2019re so formidable is the abundance of creative talent in the team in the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus. These seven players in themselves are already possibly one of the finest combinations of world-class creative football talent in one squad. It\u2019s not impossible to shut them down on one of their infrequent off days but it would be almost impossible to stop them on a regular basis for sure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Similarly, Jurgen Klopp\u2019s side are not just about one lone striker like Mohamed Salah\u00a0 or Sadio Mane netting brilliant goals at random. These two together with Roberto Firmino Egyptian combine brilliantly to form one of the deadliest attacking units in the continent. Factor into that equation a highly functional midfield with an airtight defence spearheaded by a Virgil van Dijk and you end up with one of the most potent, scariest propositions roaming the pitch presently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For Manchester United, shackle Pogba and the United creative flow tapers off considerably. If the club is\u00a0 seriously intent on challenging for top honours again consistently, then their chemistry can ill afford yo be so heavily reliant on Pogba being the main component. As it is, Manchester United are sorely lacking a cohesive defence and a dynamic frontline able to compensate for Pogba\u2019s drop in form when his inconsistency rears its ugly head.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Which means they can\u2019t dispense with his services on the pitch, one way or the other.<\/span><\/p>\n 7. \u201cWe sold Ronaldo and still won the league and reached the Champions League final!\u201d<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n Manchester United sold Ronaldo in 2009 yet this did not hinder Alex Ferguson\u2019s side proceeding to win two more league titles besides making the final of the Champions League in 2011. This was due largely to United still having the combined skills and services of\u00a0 players like Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Patrice Evra and other dependables like Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic to rely on. Hence even when a major spectacular talent like Ronaldo at his peak had to part company with the club, the impact of his absence from the pitch was softened considerably. The current set-up at Old Trafford are not even a pale reflection of that side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Could the same happen if United were to sell Pogba? For sure, no!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 8. Losing Pogba could also be misconstrued by others as one of the signs of a shaky club continuing on a downward spiral<\/strong><\/p>\n It would only be too easy and convenient for the misinformed to downplay the effect that losing Pogba would have on United right when Solskjaer is exhausting all avenues and resources to rebuild the squad at Old Trafford next season.<\/span><\/p>\n Question:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Was Cristiano Ronaldo playing at his best every week when Manchester United won the league and European Cup double in 2008?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Answer:<\/span><\/p>\n No. Yet the club was able to press on and win because the visionary Sir Alex Ferguson had long possessed the foresight to have the likes of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez in attack to reduce the heavy burden of responsibility off a particular indidual, regardless of his prowess and capabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That is what the top teams possess. Manchester United are not a top side anymore and selling their\u00a0 current \u2018best\u2019 player Pogba will certainly not make them one. It would seem like a marriage more out of convenience than love to state the obvious that both Manchester United and Pogba need each other next season, at least.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are maybe a handful of clubs who would have the ability to match the midfielder\u2019s price tag but it seems unclear whether any one of them want to pay Manchester United \u00a3160m for the Frenchman. Here are the remaining reasons why it would not be beneficial to Manchester United to terminate their partnership with Paul Pogba for at least another season:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 9. If the club were to let Pogba go, assuming someone with deep pockets is willing to pay for him, this would dent Solskjaer\u2019s credibility, as he had made it very clear all this while that he wants Pogba at the heart of his new-fangled side. <\/strong><\/p>\n A dent in this particular manager\u2019s credibility would mean one in United\u2019s credibility too for the top brass had been backing their once iconic blue-eyed boy\u2019s pay and plans all the while.\u00a0 The Norwegian hedged all bets on getting the best out of the Frenchman and for a short period of time, he succeeded. So, it wouldn\u2019t be irrational for United to look forward to having a full pre-season shored up hopefully with some great summer acquisitions that could help their beleaguered manager to regain last season\u2019s winter form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>All these are arguments that do make a heckuva lot of sense, but only if Pogba isn\u2019t possibly the only world-class outfield player Manchester United have at present in their squad. With their proven propensity to muck up on the acquisition of new talents or experienced players alike on the transfer market, it would be most unlikely to expect the club to be able to successfully recruit two or three players to replace Pogba on the pitch. At least not with Woodward and Solskjaer still around trying jointly to paint their Picasso masterpiece.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n