It’s been a rocky road for Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba over the last 12 months. The Manchester United manager clashed with his midfielder on several occasions during the last campaign, with the Frenchman left out of the starting line-up for both of United’s last-16 games with Sevilla in the Champions League, and criticised for his performances several times after low-key displays against Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United at the turn of the year.
To Pogba’s credit, the Frenchman has kept his counsel for the most part, and turned in a series of commanding performances for the French national side as Didier Deschamps’ men lifted the World Cup trophy in Russia with summer. However, Mourinho openly suggested that it was down to the player to bring that form back to his club, as opposed to the manager’s responsibility to drag the best out of him.
The Portuguese appeared to extend an olive branch by giving the player the captain’s armband for Friday’s 2-1 win over Leicester City at Old Trafford, but Pogba hinted that things were far-from rosy at the club, by offering the following comment after the game: “There are things I can say and there are things I cannot say… otherwise I will get fined.”
United were reportedly furious when rumours of a bust-up between player and manager were revealed by The Sun earlier this week, and contacted Sky Sports to vehemently deny the report today. It’s no stretch to say that Pogba is clearly unsettled at the club at present, yet with three years still to run on his current deal at United, it seems remarkably unlikely that he will be allowed to leave any time soon, given his commercial importance to the business side of things alongside his clear talent on the pitch. Expect this one to rumble on for the coming months, regardless.
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