Man Utd leave Paul Pogba behind for Spain trip as Solskjaer drops major transfer hint - 7M sport

Man Utd leave Paul Pogba behind for Spain trip as Solskjaer drops major transfer hint



Posted Saturday, February 08, 2020 by Express.co.uk

Man Utd leave Paul Pogba behind for Spain trip as Solskjaer drops major transfer hint
Man Utd leave Paul Pogba behind for Spain trip as Solskjaer drops major transfer exit hint (Image: GETTY)

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba will not join his team-mates on their warm weather trip to Marbella over the Premier League's winter break.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has ordered Paul Pogba to remain behind as the rest of his first-team squad travels to Spain on Friday morning for a warm weather training camp, according to reports, in a fresh hint that the midfielder will leave the club in the summer.

Pogba’s long-term United future has been a subject of speculation for years, despite having only returned to Old Trafford for a second spell with the Red Devils in 2016.

A mega-money to Real Madrid has long been slated as a possibility with Los Blancos having been in for Pogba before United trumped them with a club-record, and then world-record, £89m fee four years ago.

And another move from United to Juventus, having swapped Manchester for Turin in 2012, has also been mooted.

According to reports from the Daily Star, Pogba has moved a step closer to a second career exit from United, having been left out of their trip to Marbella.

United will make the most of the newly-imposed winter break by taking their first-team squad to the Costa del Sol, flying out on Friday morning.

But Pogba will not be on board the flight headed to southern Spain, with the 26-year-old left on his own instead, having spent time in the Middle East this week.

The United academy graduate is recovering from injury having battled fitness problems all season, restricting him to just eight appearances across all competitions.

He only returned from an ankle issue before Christmas, appearing as substitutes against Watford and Newcastle, only to then sit out United’s last 12 league and cup matches with further problems, having had to undergo minor surgery.

The Star claim Pogba is not yet fit enough to train with his team-mates but has been left behind with Solskjaer simply not wanting the Frenchman present.

It is claimed the Norwegian coach is reluctant to have him around the squad despite the player being well liked by the dressing room.

Pogba wanted to leave United in the summer and suggested it “could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else” after “some good moments and some bad moments” during his second stint in Manchester.

The United hierarchy are said to be resigned to losing Pogba in the summer, having previously insisted that he would remain at the club, while even his team-mates expect him to move on.

Solskjaer recently dismissed criticism suggesting Pogba is not fully committed to the Red Devils.

“Paul has had a terrible season with injuries and he is desperate to play football," he said.

"So if there is one thing I know about Paul it’s that he loves playing football and training, and it’s been playing on his mind.

“Anyone who is injured, you cannot wait to get back on the pitch, and you feel so free and he has been playing with pain so I am sure when he is pain and injury free he will enjoy his football.

“I see a boy who is fed up with being injured and who is desperate to play football.

“Paul has always been a top professional so I don’t have any doubts that when he comes back he is going to enjoy himself."

That followed comments from Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola in which he said Pogba must first see United’s plans before deciding his future.

He told Sky Sports: “I expect my players to be happy and I expect the clubs to be happy. That is my work. I do not want to work in front of what might be happening in the summer.

“For now he [Pogba] needs to be getting fit and then it is my job to get both parties if possible, happy. If one of those parties is not happy then there are other ways to resolve that.

“But that is not today the way to talk or to speculate. I don’t say anything for sure. There’s only one thing for sure in life and that is that one day you die.

“A lot of people did not think he would have gone back to Manchester United, people tend to forget that, people tend to imagine that Manchester United was the only club he could have signed for.

“That was not the case. He chose Manchester United. Maybe (Sir Alex) Ferguson did not like that but he chose Manchester United.”



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