The manager of Manchester United, Ralf Rangnick believes that the club’s central midfielder, Paul Pogba would use his improved fitness level to impress other clubs for a new contract.
Since November 2021, Paul Pogba has not played for Manchester United due to fitness issues. He returned to training earlier this week ahead of the Manchester United Premier League game against Brentford scheduled to kick off at 21:00 later today, January 19, 2022.
If he is considered for the game against Brentford, that would make it the first time that Pogba would play at Manchester United under interim coach Rangnick.
Just like Rangnick that has less than five months to spend as Manchester United coach, Paul Pogba’s contract with the club would expire on June 30, 2022.
Since the 2020-2021 season, the Premier League club has been trying to extend the contract of the 28-year-old French midfielder. Despite all the efforts, the club has made to renew Paul Pogba’s contract, the contract tussle is still dragging on.
Earlier, it was reported that Paul Pogba wants to earn nothing less than £500,000-per-week at Manchester United which would make him not only the highest-paid at United but the highest paid in the Premier League.
After a series of back and forth, Manchester United agreed to offer the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner the deal but Pogba is yet to decide whether or not to renew his stay at the club.
Recall that Paul Pogba is more or less a product of the Manchester United youth system. When he could not establish himself in the club’s senior team, the Frenchman decided to join Juventus on August 3, 2012, on a free transfer.
After about four seasons in Italy, his performance wowed Manchester United so much that the Premier League club decided to break the league transfer record to bring Pogba back to Old Trafford for €105 million.
Since he arrived at Old Trafford, his performance has not been as consistent as expected but the club intends to keep the 28-year-old Frenchman at the club as long as possible.
But the Frenchman is reportedly interested in joining Real Madrid. The Spanish club is interested in him too. Some other top European clubs like Juventus and Paris Saint Germain are reportedly interested in his services.
Despite all the distractions that the France international is currently battling with, coach Rangnick believes that Pogba is in the right state of mind to play for Manchester United.
The German tactician stressed that there is still a point to play Paul Pogba just like he has been playing Nemanja Matic who is also in the final phase of his contract with Manchester United.
“I also played Nemanja Matic now in the last games and his contract is also expiring. By the way, my contract as a manager is also expiring in the summer”, the coach said.
“So, for us, we have the same goal, we have the same ambition to be as successful as we can possibly be in the next three or four months.
“For me, it’s not a question if a player has an expiring contract. The question is how much does he still want to be a part of this group? How much does he still feel emotionally and physically on board?
“And as long as this is the case, why shouldn’t Paul Pogba now after two and half months of injury, be fully fit again now and he also wants to show up?
“He wants to show the fans of Manchester United, the board, the whole world what kind of player he can be, and even if it’s for only showing up for a new contract elsewhere, I mean, he will be highly motivated to do that. Why should I then not play him?
“But then, as I said, there is a difference of how do players deal with their current situation? How do they handle that?
“If they professionally handle that, ambitiously, of course, I can and I will play players although they have a contract expiring in the summer.”
🗣️ "For me, it's not a question if a player has an expiring contract. The question is how much does he still want to be a part of this group?"
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 19, 2022
Ralf Rangnick says Paul Pogba will be determined to return to form for #MUFC, even if his motivation is to earn a new deal elsewhere. pic.twitter.com/yB8BFbzEdt
