“Probably the best scenario” – Former Manchester United player reacts to Paul Pogba exit

Former Manchester United defender John O’Shea claimed that Paul Pogba’s exit was the best-case scenario for both the player and the club.

Paul Pogba is set to leave on a free transfer from Manchester United for the second time in his career (as announced on the Manchester United website). The World Cup winner left Old Trafford as a youngster to join Juventus in 2012 and was brought back for a fee of £89.3 million in 2016. In the past six years, Pogba has shown flashes of his brilliance but has rarely been consistent.

Pogba has had a poor campaign this term in which he scored just one goal and provided nine assists in 27 appearances across competitions. The Frenchman was largely expected to leave at the expiry of his contract, and the recent announcement came as no surprise.

Speaking to the Irish Mirror, John O’Shea seemed to agree:

“Look, I played with Paul a long time ago and obviously he was super talented back then. I am sure he is hoping for himself too that he finds that consistent level of performance that he wasn’t able to find at different stages of the season, over the spell when he came back. When you saw the goals and assists that he was able to get when he was fully fit and the team was actually playing well, you saw what an important asset he was.”

He added:

“But unfortunately he had a few injuries too and couldn’t probably get back to that level too. Not only Paul, the team suffered a lot too. I think it’s gotten to the case where a fresh start for everyone is probably the best scenario.”

Manchester United set to offload multiple players in the summer window

While the focus is as always on bringing in new players, Manchester United also need to offload a number of stars. The way the process has begun is not promising at all. Erik ten Hag is expected to have a budget of only €117 million (£100m) this summer (According to The Sun, via Footballtransfers.com), a modest sum given how much reinforcement the club needs.

In such a scenario, the club might struggle to bring in the players the first team obviously requires. Apart from two midfielders, a defender and perhaps two attacking signings are the need of the hour.

Erik ten Hag will need to bring in players who can fit in with his tactical philosophy. The club’s transfer policy has been suspect at best in recent windows, and a lot of work is required to undo the damage.