How The Covid-19 Crisis Changed The Landscape For Paul Pogba At Manchester United

Everything looked to be in place for Paul Pogba to leave Manchester United this summer. This was a transfer a long time in the making, with the Frenchman unsuccessful in his very public efforts to force his way out of Old Trafford the summer before. His notoriously bullish agent Mino Raiola had more than once spoken ill of the leadership at the club, only adding fuel to the fire that ravaged Pogba’s reputation in red.

Now, though, the picture has changed. Dramatically so. With the summer transfer window now finally in sight, Pogba is no longer pondering his Manchester United future through the media. Raiola has managed not to rankle Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ed Woodward for a few weeks. 

The coronavirus shutdown has changed the situation for Pogba, and for many players across the continent who had hoped this summer would hold a mega-money transfer for them. With Europe’s elite clubs hunkering down and bracing themselves for the impact of the enforced hiatus, signings are the last thing from their minds right now.

Both Juventus and Real Madrid are reportedly taking measures to mitigate the financial damage, with the former imposing a salary cap on their players that would either eliminate the possibility of re-signing Pogba or require the Frenchman to take a drastic pay cut. One by one Pogba’s potential escape routes have seemingly vanished.

Pogba might well find he has no option but to accept that his future, at least in the short to medium term, likes at Manchester United where he has spent the last few months burning bridges. He has a lot of work to do in restoring those bridges and reversing public opinion which had started to turn on him.

There is no doubting the 27-year-old’s quality. At his best, he is one of the best central midfielders in the sport right now. There have been glimpses of his brilliance over the last four years as a Manchester United player, but consistency has evaded him. That’s what he must find, along with a renewed commitment to the cause.

Solskjaer is building a team for the future as much as for the present and Pogba must show that he isn’t just committed to Manchester United right now, but that he believes he can achieve his career objectives at Old Trafford for years to come. If he can do that then there might be a way back for him.

The January transfer window arrival of Bruno Fernandes has surely given Pogba encouragement that United are heading in the right direction. The Portuguese midfielder has made a profound impact in England, quickly becoming the creative hub of Solskjaer’s side. It’s not just in the performances Fernandes has produced, but also in the way he is an on-field leader, something the Old Trafford outfit had desperately lacked.

What might be best for Manchester United is if Pogba feels threatened by Fernandes. The Portuguese has, in a very short space of time, succeeded in so many of the ways Pogba has failed at the club. He was signed to be United’s midfield leader and final third creator. He was meant to be their main man.

A partnership between the two could work, although Solskjaer would be risking his very own Steven Gerrard-Frank Lampard scenario by fielding two players so similar who occupy such similar areas of the pitch. He might not have much choice but to force the two players into the same team.

The then world record signing of Pogba back in the summer of 2016 promised a new era at Old Trafford. That has yet to materialise, but there is still time for the Frenchman’s Manchester United career to be defined in a different way, even if that isn’t exactly what he wanted just a few weeks ago.