Man Utd must isolate Pogba to halt the ‘virus’

It took less than 12 months to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 but on V-Day – after more than two years – Manchester United have yet to find a cure for their virus.

Paul Pogba proved to be terminal for Jose Mourinho’s prospects at Old Trafford and even after United sacked the manager currently sat atop the Premier League table, the Red Devils have suffered a persistent pain in the arse. The only cure now is an emergency Pogectomy.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had to live with the debilitating effects of the Pogba virus ever since United suffered a relapse after some brief respite upon the manager’s appointment. But after the latest onset of symptoms, manifested in the form of an outburst from a parasitic agent at the most inconvenient time – and a series of tortured metaphors here – Solskjaer and United should no longer tolerate their discomfort.

Like Jamie Carragher said on Monday night, just ‘get rid’. And United surely will. They have missed several opportunities in the not-too-distant past to at least get their money back on their record signing, but even Ed Woodward must recognise that the hit would be worth it to be rid of Pogba and his baggage.

United must wait only until next month for their next chance to decisively deal with their Pogba problem. If a patsy emerges, then most likely it won’t be until towards the end of January that a deal would be done since the circumstances hardly lend themselves to a bidding war. Two of three clubs likely to be interested in Pogba can barely afford him and they will be more content than the player or his agent to perhaps wait until next summer, when his contract will tick over into its final year.

In the meantime, whether it is six weeks or six months, United must confront the issue head on. Appeasement has not worked. Since Pogba came back from the 2018 World Cup a winner, United have tried giving Pogba the captaincy; removed the captaincy; changed his manager; given him opportunities in every midfield position conceivable; and always refused to bite when Raiola dangles his bait. Look where it has got them.

READ MORE: Everything Pogba and Raiola have said about leaving Man Utd

United’s approach towards protecting their asset – in financial terms at least, it has been a long time since Pogba can be described as such on the pitch – has ended up costing them money and face. The latest storm, timed to cause most devastation as Solskjaer prepares his squad for a make-or-break match in Leipzig, will hardly help them preserve their Champions League status.

Regardless of the outcome in Germany, where Pogba should play no part, United should isolate the midfielder away from Solskjaer’s squad until such a time that he is no longer their problem. It seems the Mesut Ozil treatment would suit Pogba just fine anyway.

It is hardly as though United would suffer for Pogba’s absence. They have bought two players this year to play in Pogba’s preferred position and, in the role Solskjaer would like him to occupy, the manager has a preference for Fred, Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic anyway.

Perhaps Raiola felt he had to make hay while the sun shone in the wake of United’s latest come-from-behind triumph last weekend. Pogba too; let’s not pretend he wasn’t aware of his agent’s plan. The midfielder scored a sublime goal to level for United, but that game was Pogba’s United career in microcosm: one brief YouTube moment punctuating long periods of p*ss-poor posturing.

If his four-and-a-half years at Old Trafford was that trip to West Ham, then his 25-yard equaliser was the three-month spell immediately after Solskjaer’s appointment. That period, when he scored eight goals and weighed in with another six assists, is really the only time Pogba has strung together any consistent form for the Red Devils during what should have been the peak years of his career.

At around £50million and a salary pushing £300,000 a week, Pogba represents a gamble for whichever club opts to take a punt on him and Raiola, especially amid the current financial downturn. At 28, could Juve or Real be sure that Pogba could just turn it back on again simply by ‘changing the air’? However much he dreams of Real or longs to return to Juve, perhaps PSG, a club with covid-proof riches in need of a new superstar name to replace Kylian Mbappe would be more suited to Pogba.

What Pogba does next is not United’s concern, but how they react to his barbs and those of his agent most certainly is. No longer can they be ignored.

Woodward showed that he was not afraid to back his manager when Mourinho ostracised the highly-paid Bastian Schweinsteiger – in haste, as it turned out – and similarly decisive action is required in this instance. Before they can get rid, they first have to get tough before this virus causes any more pain.

Ian Watson