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FED-UP Manchester United bosses want Paul Pogba to leave the club in the January transfer window.
His agent’s woefully timed statement on the eve of United’s crucial Champions League clash with RB Leipzig was the final straw.
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Mino Raiola destabilized boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s preparations, and they lost 3-2 to exit the competition.
Raiola told an Italian sports website that Pogba’s time at Old Trafford was up, that he was unhappy and should be sold.
United had steadfastly refused to be intimidated by Raiola, who has been an irritant during Pogba’s second spell at the club.
But now the Red Devils’ top brass are ready to accept defeat and let go of their record £ 89 million signing.
They want their money back, but they may have to lower the asking price as low as £ 50 million to find a buyer for the French World Cup winner.
Pogba, 27, favors a return to Juventus. The Italian giants would welcome their four-time Serie A winner, but that’s if they have the cash.
United could have sold the midfielder to Real Madrid in the summer of 2019, but the Spaniards were never going to pay their £ 180 million fee and the opportunity was gone.
Having dumped Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sánchez back then, Solskjaer was prepared to let Pogba go as well, as long as he had the money to reinvest in his team.
Now Pogba has become an unwanted sideshow that is starting to affect the Norwegian team’s performance.
It probably cost José Mourinho his job when the former United manager expelled Pogba from the team and stripped him of his vice-captaincy.
The club’s sympathies at the time were with Pogba, believing that Mourinho was having a meltdown.
Looking back now, the board could review its thoughts on this.
Solskjaer knocked the French star out of the starting lineup against Leipzig on Tuesday, but pulled him out in the 16th minute of the second half with United 2-0 down.
He headed in a header to cut Leipzig’s lead to 3-2, and nearly forced an own goal with a cross at the end that would have sent United away.
But his form has been poor overall and he is unlikely to regain his place for Saturday’s Manchester derby.
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