Pogba v Mourinho: Who wins the fans ?

The midfielder has had lots to say recently but none of it has suggested he will be at Manchester United for long, and fans are concerned

  Manchester United have won twice and lost twice this season, but even the victories have been quickly forgotten because of the ongoing Paul Pogba soap opera.

The French midfielder had just been described as a “monster” by his manager Jose Mourinho after a man of the match-winning display in the 2-1 win over Leicester City just four days after returning for pre-season training but Pogba himself followed up by cryptically stating: “There are things that I cannot say; otherwise, I will get fined.”

United then suffered reverses to Brighton and Tottenham but just as the pressure on Mourinho appeared to be intensifying, they won 2-0 at Burnley in their final fixture before the international break on an afternoon filled with showings of unity between the players, the fans and the manager. Harmony, it appeared, was being restored.

Except it took Pogba no time at all to throw another spanner in the works. By the middle of last week, he was telling the French press that there are no certainties about his status as a United player.

“My future is currently in Manchester,” he said. “I still have a contract, I’m playing there at the moment, but who knows what will happen in the next few months?"

This was hardly Pogba nailing his colours to the Manchester United mast. In football parlance, he was inviting speculation, fanning the flames amidst talk that Barcelona and Juventus are both keeping a keen eye on developments.

While the theory has again been promoted that his agent Mino Raiola promised Pogba that he would sort a big-money move to one of Real Madrid and Barcelona after a few years on a lucrative deal at Old Trafford, the current state of affairs is doing the player no favours in terms of creating the favourable environment in which to perform.