Paul Pogba has now been back at Manchester United for four years, and still we are yet to see him consistently perform at his best.
He returned to Old Trafford in 2016 from Juventus for a then-world-record fee of £89.3million but only in one campaign can it be said the club have even come close to a Premier League title challenge.
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In 2017/18, the Red Devils finished second but were, realistically, always second best as Manchester City won the Premier League with 100 points.
There have been two sixth-place finishes, while last year saw them, somehow, claim third spot with just 66 points, – the same number saw them come sixth the previous year.
Pogba’s performances over this period have not been good enough for many.
A serial title-winner with Juventus and a World Cup winner with France, it’s felt he just hasn’t brought that level to Man United.
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Since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes, despite some promising Project Restart showings, a partnership hasn’t quite flourished as expected.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has now made his feelings clear, favouring Fred and Scott McTominay in midfield to give more balance to his team as they battle back from a poor start in the Premier League.
Pogba has managed just four starts, with three appearances coming from the substitutes bench, and his future looks more uncertain than ever.
Didier Deschamps, the France manager, is baffled by his struggles at Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old was outstanding for his country in the Nations League wins over Portugal and Sweden, with Deschamps declaring him a ‘top-level player’.
But despite impressing for France, it is expected he will again have to settle for a spot on the bench in United’s clash with West Brom this Saturday.
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Co-hosting talkSPORT’s Drivetime show this week, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher gave his thoughts on Pogba’s below par displays.
“He’s possibly never done well in any position or tactical set up that different managers have had,” Carragher said.
“Would I pick him in the Manchester United team? No, I wouldn’t.
“He’s a huge name, he’s come for a huge transfer fee, but I don’t think he’s a great player.
“People say he’s won the World Cup and I get that. But when he came in I thought he might have the impact like [Frank] Lampard at Chelsea, [Steven] Gerrard at Liverpool, Yaya Toure at Man City – those players drove their team to titles, European Cups.
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“When you’re that man who’s seen as the one to take United to the next level, which people might say it’s too much pressure to put on one man, but that’s what we were told was coming.
“It just hasn’t happened for him at Manchester United. For me, I’d be looking to move him on.”
It’s one thing for an ex-Liverpool player to say this but Red Devils heroes have also been having their say and here, talkSPORT has rounded up what the big name stars have said about Pogba’s performances and his future at Old Trafford.
Gary Neville – Pogba complaints are a compliment
United legend and Sky Sports pundit Neville has had his say on the Frenchman pretty much every time he pulls on a United shirt.
He doesn’t want the player gone but concedes he’s been so good in the past he’s created high expectations which he just isn’t meeting.
“I don’t think we expect too much from him,” he said. “When you’ve won the trophies he’s won and played in the games he’s played in, and the price that the club paid for him, then you’d expect best-in-class performances.
“The fact that we’re always talking about him is a compliment, the expectation levels he’s set and the standards he’s set at the previous club and with France.
“This has been a difficult period and Manchester United haven’t been playing particularly well over the last few years, it’s not just down to him.
“Think about all those years when Liverpool didn’t win the title, the expectation always seemed to be on Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and there’s an expectation that Paul Pogba has to deliver at Manchester United.”
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Paul Ince – It’s time for Pogba to move on
The ‘Guv’nor’ believes the fact the Frenchman has now lost his place to Fred and McTominay should be a wake up call.
“Paul Pogba should be on the pitch, this is a big, big game,” Ince told beIN Sport. “For him to be sitting on the bench and watching, with no disrespect, McTominay and Fred playing in his position, I would be saying, ‘I must be doing something wrong if I can’t get in this team’.
“I know he has had an injury and he might be trying to bring him on a little later on. But I think it is time to move on. He has come out in the last two weeks and said he wants to join Real Madrid. I think his performances since he has been here have been inconsistent. Paul Pogba is a world-class player and when he moved to Old Trafford I thought, ‘great’.
“But all he has done is been a problem. The fans have gone against him and now Bruno Fernandes has come in and shown what you need to do to be a Man United player.
“He has performed consistently and Paul Pogba hasn’t done that and that is why he finds himself on the bench.”
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Paul Scholes – Selling Pogba won’t be a big loss
There was talk of Pogba leaving before the end of the recent transfer window and it’s something Scholes wasn’t against coming to fruition.
He believes the midfielder hasn’t given United enough since he rejoined in 2016 and feels a number of other players could do a similar role, if not better.
Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT in September, Scholes said: “I think it’s quite clear he wants to leave the club.
“He wanted to move to Real Madrid [in the summer] and for whatever reason it didn’t happen.
“If they ask him to stay for a year then we’ll see what happens. But I don’t think it will be a big loss to United [if he does go].
“At the end of the day his form hasn’t been great anyway over the last three or four years he’s been there.
“I’m sure there’s more players there who can step in and do just as good a job.”
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Roy Keane – Pogba is no good if you want to win titles
He’s one of the most outspoken pundits in the game and a bonafide Manchester United legend, and he, like Scholes, doesn’t feel the 27-year-old has enough character to be a title-winner at Old Trafford.
Keane, recalling his own performances for the club said: “The amount of arguments I had when I played in midfield, with centre-halves, everyone’s obsessed with protecting your back four. United need a bit more than that, you speak about energy, you need more than energy to play in midfield for Man United, you need some creativity, you need to be a lad with a bit of character, with a bit of heart and Pogba hasn’t done enough.
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“I think of what Bill Shankly said years ago, with players, sometimes they turn up and you don’t know what you’re going to get. Pogba is like that, that is no good for you if you want to win titles. For all Pogba’s talent, he should be in this team, but he doesn’t do enough – he doesn’t do the other side of the game. He doesn’t show enough spirit, enough fight, he’s got talent, but that’s not enough to play in midfield for Man United.
“When you’re a player at a football club like Man United, a big club, your job as a footballer, day-in, day-out, come Thursday and Friday when the manager is sitting with his staff over a cup of tea at the training ground… who’s our starting XI? The manager will go, ‘he’s definitely in my team’ – that was my attitude when I played for Man United.
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“I don’t care about rotation, I don’t care about systems, I don’t care about whatever you’re changing. I am going to be playing because I’ve trained dead hard and obviously, these players aren’t giving Ole enough of a headache.
“Pogba should be in this team, but when the staff are sitting down, they obviously don’t trust him enough to go out and do a job for Man United.”
talkSPORT will bring you live and exclusive commentary of Manchester United vs West Brom on Saturday, kick-off 8pm
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