The Manchester United midfield, Paul Pogba, is more desperate than ever to leave the club. The “fed up” star is set to push for a January exit.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer is already lacking depth in midfield. He cannot afford to lose Pogba unless he can find a replacement.
But then, Pogba has no chance of signing a new contract at Old Trafford. He has two years left on his current deal and United has an option to sign him for a further year.
The French international is dispirited and believes the club is in reverse and is refusing to be made a scapegoat.
Solskjaer seemed to have convinced Pogba to stay when he praised his attitude on the pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East.
Pogba could not be convinced. He missed the last three games before returning against Rochdale and he has made up his mind that he wants to leave.
The midfielder is worth £180million which Juventus and Real Madrid were reluctant to meet in the summer.
On the other side of the story, it is said the Frenchman was snubbed for the captaincy as United scrapped past Rochdale on penalties in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
The United boss handed the captaincy to 21-year-old Axel Tuanzebe in the absence of Ashley Young and David De Gea.
The World Cup winner Pogba was not among the five penalty takers in the shootout which United won 5-3.
This comes after he was taken off penalty duties following his miss against Wolves.
Solskjaer was angered that Pogba and Rashford had an on-pitch disagreement over who should take the penalty.
This made him insist in the dressing room afterward that England ace, Rashford would be the permanent taker from then henceforth.
It is not yet clear if Pogba refused to place himself forward to take a spot-kick on Wednesday or if Solskjaer simply did not pick him.
Solskjaer lifts lids on snubbing Pogba for Axel Tuanzebe.
The manager overlooked Pogba for the captain’s armband because he needs to identify leaders for United’s future.
Solskjaer claims the decision arose because it is important, he gets to find out about the character of the youngster Axel who will hopefully drug the club back towards the top.
He said, “Axel is a captain in making. He is a leader and why not give it the young kids? We know we can give it to Sergio Romero, or Pogba. That’s no problem. They have been captains before. But it’s Axel. So, how does he handle it?”
“The answer is he did fine. He enjoyed it so that is just a way of telling him that we trust him.”