All is not well at Manchester United
While most of the talk has been about Jose Mourinho since United fell to their first defeat of the season against Brighton on Sunday, headlines about Paul Pogba are never too far away.
The midfielder is believed to be unhappy with his relationship with Mourinho and has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford in recent weeks. Barcelona are said to have made a players-plus-cash bid for the French international, although United have made it known they have no interest in selling him.
The World Cup winner was far from his best in the defeat against Brighton, something which drew criticism from Paul Scholes.
“There’s a lack of leaders in the team,” Scholes said. “We thought Paul Pogba might be the ideal candidate to be that leader but he wasn’t there today. He had another really poor game. He’s so inconsistent.”
He continued: “Paul Pogba’s playing the ball out of play, he’s overhitting passes, he’s hitting passes short, he’s getting caught in possession.”
Scholes’ comments have now prompted a reaction from Pogba’s agent, the man many United supporters believe is trying to accelerate a(nother) move away from Old Trafford for his client.
Tweeting for the first time since early July, Mino Raiola suggested Scholes was only making such comments to stay relevant, saying that he ‘wouldn’t recognise a leader if he was in front of Sir Winston Churchill’.
Some people need to talk for fear of being forgotten. Paul Scholes wouldn’t recognize a leader if he was in front of Sir Winston Churchill. @paulpogba
— RAIOLA (@MinoRaiola) August 21, 2018
A second tweet soon followed, sarcastically suggesting Scholes should become United’s first director of football at United and advise executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to sell the club’s record signing.
‘[There] Would be sleepless nights to find Pogba a new club,’ his tweet said, @ing Pogba at the end.
Paul Scholes should become sports director and advise Woodward to sell Pogba. Would be sleepless nights to find Pogba a new club @paulpogba
— RAIOLA (@MinoRaiola) August 21, 2018
Paul Scholes’ decision to come out of retirement in 2012 famously prompted Pogba to leave Old Trafford the first time, joining Juventus that summer after his contract had expired.
The voice of reason in this United spat arrived at 8am (everyone was up early!) when Gary Neville doled out some advice.
https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/1031799445728505856
This transfer window, across Europe, can’t close quick enough.
