Paul Pogba is United’s most talented and gifted individual player, there is no doubt about that. However, his second stint at the club is just not working out. Chronic foot and ankle injuries have derailed his 2019-20 campaign, as he’s been limited to just five starts and seven total appearances in the Premier League competition this season.
There is no timetable for his return at this point, and pretty much every time a return date has been put forth this season, it ultimately proved to be inaccurate. The past two seasons have seen Pogba constantly linked with a move away from Old Trafford, and former West Ham goalkeeper/ESPN FC pundit Shaka Hislop believes Pogba is widely expected to push for a move away from United at the end of the season.
“I think this is done, I think he’s checked out,” said Hislop, a talking head famous for his ambitious weekly world power rankings.
“That being said I thought David de Gea had checked out some 12 months ago.” (transcript Daily Express)
“But I just feel from Paul Pogba, given the inconsistent performances, this lengthy injury… listen you can’t blame anyone for being injured but you just start to wonder, I just feel there’s been so much talk, there’s been so much smoke, at some point we’ve got to start to believe that there’s a fire.”
Yes, Paul Pogba transfer rumors have been so pervasive for so long that we’re all long sick of them, but in the end, it might just be best for all involved that he moves on. If Pogba is truly mentally checked out, then he must move on and find a new destination that better suits him and fulfills his needs.
Given his astronomical price tag in the transfer market and his egregiously high salary, his list of potential landing spots is short. He’s consistently been linked with a move back to Juventus or his dream move to Real Madrid. Also, United still need a major rebuild, and it’s a wholistic, long-term project.
Given the financial windfall Pogba would potentially bring in the summer transfer window, sending him away would provide the funding needed to acquire a whole set of new players to do a major overhaul. It is just too bad that it has to be this way, but it simply hasn’t worked out for all involved. Hislop’s outlet has a good feature piece on this topic today.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.