Disappearing a bit over the past few fixtures, like most of the Manchester United squad, Paul Pogba’s future remains a constant topic of conversation in the European media.
Rejuvenated for 10 games or so after José Mourinho’s dismissal, the France international’s form has dipped recently, and a rather tepid performance against Wolverhampton in a 2-1 defeat exemplified the reasons why he needs to leave Old Trafford.
At least, that’s how France Football see it this week, as the magazine make a case for Pogba’s transfer to Real Madrid and why the former Juventus star “needs” to swap Manchester for Spain’s capital.
Chief among the reasons is Zinedine Zidane’s return at the Santiago Bernabeu, who will oversee a Champions League campaign next season, which cannot be said about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer if things don’t change in the coming weeks.
A move to Real Madrid would help the Frenchman further his career, aware that Europa League football with his current squad won’t be enough to help him achieve a dream of his: winning the Ballon d’Or, therefore emulating the man he would likely end up replacing (Luka Modric) and his would be new manager.
They continue with his potential choices, explaining Pogba doesn’t necessarily see himself as the ‘squad leader’ Solskjaer would like him to be: “Signing long-term in a project where the manager’s CV is two league titles and a Norwegian cup or team up with your childhood hero, a compatriot, the only manager in the history of football to have won three Champions Leagues in a row?
“Remain in a league where the intensity of duels tends to level out the technical inequalities, or taste La Liga that knows to be as spectacular but respects the ball more and protects its creators, a group Pogba is a part of, more thanks to stricter referees?”
France Football wrap things up by stating that, recently turning 26, Pogba cannot really afford to spend his prime years at a club who have ‘forgotten a little, or a lot’ what being Manchester United meant.
They might return to that status one day, but the midfielder ‘cannot wait’, and the train potentially taking him to Madrid won’t necessarily ‘stop a second time in Manchester’.
