Why Paul Pogba needs to leave Manchester United

Paul Pogba has long been a controversial and divisive figure for Manchester United. He's had some great performances for the Reds and at times showed some breathtaking skill and athleticism. However, he's never really quite lived up to his potential since being signed from Juventus in 2016 and now may be the time for him to depart the club.

Inconsistency has plagued Pogba's Manchester United career

A lot was expected of Pogba when he signed in 2016. His signing was billed as the return of the prodigal son (after his acrimonious exit in 2012) and how he would be the player to bring the glory days to Man United alongside Jose Mourinho. It's not worked out like that: Mourinho was gone a few years later (after a bust-up with the Frenchman) and Pogba has never seemed to justify his £90 million price tag.

He's had some wonderful moments, his brace in a 3-2 win against Manchester City, being a prime example and he was also the club's top goalscorer in 2018/19 with 16 goals. However, just when Pogba has a good game he seems to follow that with another couple of bad performances, often being guilty of losing the ball and defensive indiscipline.

How well Pogba plays seems to depend very much on whether he can be bothered: at times he looks unplayable, but most of the time he looks disinterested. He may have been the top goalscorer for United in 2018/19 but he then went 2 years without scoring for the club at Old Trafford. That sums up his inconsistency perfectly.

Negative influence

A lot has been made of the Frenchman's personality and arrogance and he has long been thought of as a bad influence at the club ,unsettling the dressing room with his ego and negatively influencing other young players such as Marcus Rashford.

It was a battle of the super egos when Jose Mourinho was sacked in 2018 after a very public falling out with the Frenchman. It was a question of which one of them was going to leave the club and ultimately player power prevailed as Mourinho received his marching orders.

Though Mourinho did need to go, Pogba certainly contributed to a toxic atmosphere at the club and many pundits and observers have questioned his commitment to United. The constant speculation around his future every summer is something the club could do without as well.

Other midfield options

The other reason that United can let Pogba go is that they have plenty of options in that department already. Fernandes has usurped Pogba as the club's main man, McTominay and Fred provide the defensive discipline that Pogba so sorely lacks and Donny Van De Beek and Jesse Lingard are both good options to partner Fernandes. Juan Mata, Daniel James and Nemanja Matic provide good cover and the club has a clutch of promising young midfielders at the club such as Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri. That is good squad depth and once again shows why Pogba's services are no longer needed at the club.

Pogba may have been able to rely on his reputation in the past but now it seems the time has come for him to leave United.