Just hours away from Manchester United’s home fixture against 17th place Southampton, most of the talk surrounding the club centers on the long term futures of key figures/positions. Regarding the David de Gea contract extension talks, interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted Friday at his news conference that he has no updates to reveal.
De Gea, winner of the club’s Player of the Year Award in four of the last five seasons, is arguably the team’s MVP, but the captain is Antonio Valencia, a right back who has only featured eight times this season due to injuries.
Valencia, who’s been with the club for a decade, is reportedly set to leave on a free transfer at the end of this season. The club didn’t trigger his one year option, and according to ESPN, the 33-year-old is resigned to the fact that his days with the club are now numbered.
Who will wear the arm band once he’s gone. There had been speculation it could be Ander Herrera, but the Daily Mail says Paul Pogba is next in line. The Frenchman captained United in the season opening win over Leicester City, and officially served as Vice-Captain early on this season.
However, he and Mourinho had a bitter falling out, with the then manager declaring Pogba unfit to wear the arm band ever again.
Well, things have certainly changed now, as Mourinho has been sacked and Pogba is playing at as high a level as we have seen of him recently. Pogba seems to be the perfect fit for the position.
Manchester United vs Southampton FC FYIs
Kick-off: Saturday March 2, Old Trafford, 3pm (BST), 9am (CST)
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Injury Report for both sides: go to this link
Odds via Odds Checker: United 1/2, Draw 7/2, Southampton 15/2
Google Result Probability: Manchester United win 65%, Draw 21%, Southampton win 14%
Prediction: United 2, Southampton 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.