What to do with Paul Pogba

By @UtdNiamh, published on 06/08/21

What to do with Paul Pogba

Paul Pogba has been a Manchester United player for the last five years and has played 206 times. Last year, his agent Mino Raiola said his client wanted to leave the club in an Italian newspaper, Tuttosport. Now I'm going to explore some options going forward with the Frenchman's situation.

Take the money and reinvest

The first option is to cash in on the playmaker with no swap deal. The linked teams to him have been Madrid: Pogba has always spoken about wanting to go to Madrid and has flirted with them constantly while on international duty. The other team inked with the midfielder has been his former club Juventus where they have reappointed Max Allegri, where he spent four years from 2012 to 2016 when he re-joined united. His agent has said that this is his preferred transfer. The other option is PSG. This transfer could suit the Red Devil's and we could reinvest their money from the sale into other players that the manager wants.

Cash and a swap deal

This option could be the best of both worlds, with the club getting the cash but with a player added on top. From the two clubs previously mentioned, only a few players that united could go for and, more importantly, would want to go to man united (Nobody wants a Sanchez or Di Maria situation again). United do have options on both the Serie A and La Liga sides, and I'll be exploring those options later on.

Straight Swap

This deal would mean no money would exchange hands between the clubs and only involve two players going in the opposite direction, like what happened between Arthur and Pjanic in the summer. This option would be even harder to achieve because a player would make a match for a value swap. This option, in my opinion, is doubtful to happen.

The options

Cash options (No Real Madrid or Juventus players)

The first way united could spend the money they got from Pogba is to sign players with no swaps. These could be players to help the squad and could be players that the manager genuinely wants. Players that united could sign:

Sander Berge (23)

The Norwegian has a release clause after being relegated from the league with Sheffield United. The board could do this transfer if United needed to spend the money on more critical areas. A DM who can shield the defence is necessary at United, and the former Genk man could provide that whilst letting Donny Van De Beek play in the Pogba role beside him.

Florian Neuhaus (24)

If Pogba were to leave and wanted a player like him, I would go for Gladbach player Florian Neuhaus. The young German could be an astute signing for the club. At 24, he would be a perfect signing for the club to replace the French man directly. The only thing against us signing Neuhaus is our history of not signing German players, making this signing unlikely.

Nicola Barella (24)

Inter owe us money, and if Pogba were to go in the summer and Neuhaus predictably moves to Munich, then let's use them owing us money to get a top-quality Italian midfielder. With inters financial crisis, if united gave Inter what they wanted, Barella would be a united player.

Eduardo Camavinga (18)

The young Rennes player has lit up Ligue 1 this summer and has been courted by Europe's elite and will be out of contract next summer like Pogba. Camavinga has been compared to Adrian Rabiot with a similar playing style to the Juve man. He is still 18, so he will be very young. I would trust Ole entirely if he were to come, as Ole has been fantastic with the youth and young players. Paris Saint Germain also courts him, so if United want him, they will have to move quickly.

I think just selling Pogba and buying one of the players above would be the best option as we won't get another Sanchez situation.

Cash and Swap Deal

This option is risky like I have stated above, but if there were a player that MUFC liked, then I'd trust Ole's judgement. The player most likely would be Ronaldo from Juve for example. A homecoming for Ronaldo would be something united fans would love to see.

Could he stay

This question is asked by fans online all the time, and yes, it could happen, but it seems unlikely now in the final summer of his contract, and with Mino Raiola as his agent it makes things even more difficult. Pogba, although a good player, is replaceable this year. If he were to stay, I believe this saga would arise again in a year or two. This saga will never end as long as Mino is Pogba's agent.

Verdict

This summer (2021) is the best time to move the Frenchman on for a reasonable fee and buy a quality replacement. The board won't want him going on a free again as it will look bad for the them.