After the explosive comments recently made by Paul Pogba that he can not say certain things publically for the fear of getting fined by the club, the media has gone absolutely berzerk. Speculations have been doing the rounds in tabloids that this may very well be the very last season for the World-Cup winning midfielder in a United uniform. Some have even gone so far as to claim that the Frenchman has been holding out for a move to another club in the upcoming January Transfer Market.
The World-Cup winning midfield maestro, once the most expensive player in the world, is apparently not happy with the style of play at Manchester United, as well as the lack of desire shown by his team-mates in crunch situations as was the case when United lost embarrassingly to Brighton and Hove Albion.
The constant rants by Mourinho and the Portuguese habit of washing dirty linen in the public eye have certainly hurt his reputation. Of late his off-field antics have generated more publicity than his displays in a United t-shirt. Pogba has been continuously singled out by football pundits and some of the United greats, with many of them disapproving of the occasional on-off tendency of the Frenchman while on the field. Paul Scholes has even gone so far as to say that he looks disinterested while playing for the Portuguese coach.
Manchester City
This seems like to be the unlikeliest of scenarios, that United would sell their star player only to bolster their cross-town rivals. But the one thing that we have learned in recent times is that anyone can buy any player should they be willing to pay the right amount.
Ed Woodward, unlike his predecessor David Gill, is not a die-hard football fan but is a shrewd businessman, and given his recent antics he would not be the one to cower from fan pressure should he get good value for his player.
On the other side of the pitch, Pep Guardiola remains a big fan of the Frenchman and has even dared to put in an inquiry regarding the availability of their bitter city rival’s star midfielder. Although it would be a miracle to convince their rivals, should they pull off this transfer then they will certainly become the hot-spot destination.
PSG
Signing Pogba will not come in cheap but who cares about money when your name is Nasser bin Ghanim Al-Khelaïfi, the member of the royal family of Qatar? PSG has time and time again proven that they will certainly be an important team — and will somehow find ways to overcome FFP regulations — should a world-class player become available in the transfer market.
They recently have proven their financial capability to the whole world by spending over $400 million just to buy Neymar and Mbappe. They will certainly look to make a huge bid should they have the chance to bring their local hero back to his home country. With Qatar set to host the 2022 World Cup, the addition of Pogba will enhance the social reach and approval rating of Qatar in social media and will prove to be a sound business decision by the Qatar Investment Group.
Real Madrid
If someone in the whole wide world has a fetish for signing a “Galactico” then it certainly has to be Florentino Perez. The Godfather of Club Football has certainly had quite the summer as Real Madrid let go of their all-time leading goalscorer in Cristiano Ronaldo while bringing none of the big names to replace their talisman. Although Madrid has a lot of talent in the center midfield, no one has the type of hype and aura around them that Pogba has. Perez certainly loves these sort of flamboyant players and will not miss a chance to sign United’s midfielder should an opportunity present itself.
Barcelona
The Catalan Club has time and again courted Pogba to come and play at the Camp Nou. Recently, Suarez and Pique have both promised to welcome Pogba with open arms if the Frenchman was to leave Old Trafford.
Suarez has publicly stated that the World Cup-winning midfielder is desperate to fight for glory at a level that Manchester United cannot reach at the moment. This is perhaps true to a certain extent as the most coveted trophy he has won in his two and half seasons at the Stretford End is Europe’s B-grade continental competition – The Europa League. That certainly isn’t the Frenchman’s top career achievement.