Every time Paul Pogba goes on international duty he uses it as a chance to talk up a potential move to Real Madrid, but it almost looks like he’s missed the boat with that one.
The links with Real have calmed down and the emergence of players like Fede Valverde and Martin Odegaard reduce the need for new midfielders at the club, so the move does look unlikely.
It means his future with Man United is always coming under question and he is frustratingly inconsistent with his performances, but that could simply come down to the amount of games that he plays.
READ MORE: Exclusive: “A top class human being” – Luke Chadwick explains why former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is still right for Man United
Former Man United midfielder Luke Chadwick spoke to Caught Offside about the situation with the Frenchman at Old Trafford and the talk of Real Madrid, but it’s clear that he thinks he has a big role to play going forward:
“During my time at Man United if a player didn’t want to be there then the club would look to get them out the door”
“I do think that Pogba is still committed to the club. He’s a top player but you can see when he’s not on top of his game.”
“United need him to be firing on all cylinders to try and turn this situation around.”
One of the biggest problems last season was a lack of squad depth, so it meant the same XI had to start every game and they looked dead on their feet towards the end of the year.
Pogba has had issues with injuries and clearly he struggles to play through them, so it might actually make sense to play him in fewer games when he’s at his peak instead of trying to force more performances out of him.
Clearly he’s a great player and he’s got a lot of admirer at the clubs, so it will be interesting to see if the arrival of Donny van de Beek gives Solskjaer the confidence to rest Pogba and Bruno Fernandes when they need it.
If they are able to rotate and still win games, then it means the squad should be much fresher towards the end of the season.
Manchester United should sell Paul labile pogba too Barcelona so we can replace him with Eduardo camavinga