By Daily Sports on July 9, 2019

Manchester United are on a tour to Perth, Australia, as part of their first full preseason with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager and already the dominant discussion for now is what to do with their star player who has just joined up with the rest of the team for the tour.

It's old news that Paul Pogba, the biggest player in United, the man Man United coughed up €105m to prize away from Juventus in 2016 after having let him slip away for nothing from Old Trafford in 2012 to Turin, wants out again from the Red Devils.

Though Pogba has duly played the good boy by reporting for preseason and joining the club's flight to Australia, his agent had caused a stir last week by revealing the player's desire to quit Man United and the 26-year old player said something similar himself recently.

That a big player of the club, whom the suits backed over super manager Jose Mourinho when both feuded last season, which resulted in the sack of the Portuguese coach, is expressing such ambivalence over playing for one of the world's greatest clubs is a sad chapter for Manchester United's manager Solskjaer and of course the fans who would rather have this moment pass.

It has been reported that Solskjaer is seeking a face to face talk with Pogba to clear the air over his future, and while this is necessary, the player seems to have made his mind up already and public statements from him and his camp to the effect of him wanting to go suggest he won’t likely be willing to change his mind.

What is pushing the player to want to quit United? Is it money, knowing that he stands to earn more from Madrid? Is it because he doesn’t feel so much loved by the United fans who have found most of news concerning Pogba tiring? Or is it because of something that the public doesn’t know about? Some have gone ahead to argue that the player’s seeming restlessness stems from the avarice of his agent Mino Raiola who could be angling for his client to move for one more big pay day in a club that has the bucks or force a desperate Man United into an upward review of the player’s salary.

All of the above may just be responsible for Pogba desiring to bolt out of Old Trafford.

Players not willing to respect their contracts is an unfortunate and commonplace thing in football and though United would be hoping the player has a change of heart, the Frenchman’s history of turning his back on agreements with clubs dates back to his youth days and this is suggestive of the fact that United could be fighting a losing battle if they try to hold Pogba back by forcing him to abide by the agreement he reached with the club to play till 2021 for them.

In 2009 when Pogba joined United as a 16-year old from French professional club Le Havre, he and his parents were accused by the club of disrespecting an agreement they had to have Pogba remain with Le Havre till the end of the 2009/10 season by which time Pogba would have been 17 and would have helped Le Havre attract a bigger fee from a buying club.

Le Havre said in a statement at the times:

“The player and his parents refused to keep the arrangement because Manchester United offered very high sums of money to the parents of the (player) with the aim of obtaining the transfer of their son.”

Another (youth) club Torcy where Pogba played and captained their under-13 side similarly revealed that the young player was poached by Le Havre from them under similar circumstances.

What his history shows is that when it serves his personal interests, he is always ready to dish whatever agreement he has with a club.

Man United are said to be willing to sell him for up to €150m but good luck to them if they ever find a Madrid willing to cough out that sum for a player that has not shown enough consistency St club level for 3 years.

If The Red Devils can get Madrid to pay up to the amount with which they got Pogba then that would not be a bad deal.

Even if Man United succeeds now in convincing Pogba to stay (even by increasing his weekly pay and possibly extend his contract) the likelihood is that this whole saga would repeat itself again.

Meeting one-on-one with Pogba now affords Solskjaer a good chance to determine where the midfielder's head is. With so much tactical work to do and decisions on personnel to be made this preseason, a manager doesn’t need the distraction of not knowing whether his star player is ready to go to war with him.

•Photo shows a young Paul Pogba (Right) while playing for France under-16

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 9, 2019

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