Paul Pogba is ready to wait until the end of the season to decide his future and is willing to listen to all options, which could include proposals from Premier League clubs.
The Manchester United midfielder, 28, is out of contract at Old Trafford in four months and wants to park talks of his next deal to concentrate on his return from a groin injury and having a strong end to his campaign.
While staying at United has not been totally ruled out, Pogba is also expected to receive offers to move to European clubs as one of football's highest profile free agents, six years after his £89.3million signing broke the English transfer record.
Pogba is set to carefully look at his choices over the next few months, which also gives a window to Premier League clubs to consider the France midfielder. Pogba has also been linked with Paris Saint-Germain in his homeland, or going back to Juventus where he played for four years.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola revealed in 2018 that he was offered Pogba through his agent during a period when the player was dropped by Jose Mourinho. Guardiola said the offer was not pursued.
Only a clutch of teams across Europe could realistically afford a package to take Pogba on a Bosman, with his market value as a free agent expecting him to land more than £200,000 per week.
Pogba returned from three months out earlier in February and earned praise from United interim manager Ralf Rangnick for coming on for the last 17 minutes against Brighton on Tuesday and helping see out victory. He also set up Bruno Fernandes' goal that wrapped up the win and took United back into the top four.
“It was important to keep control and possession of the ball and that's why I decided to bring on Paul,” said Rangnick. “Since he was out with a long-term injury it was good to rest him in the first-half and to have him available for the last 20 minutes of the game.”
Pogba received a warm greeting from fans when he was brought on, and with only six Premier League games left at Old Trafford this season United supporters may only have a handful of chances to see him in their colours after playing the peak years of his career at the club.
De Gea: We need to be more consistent
Victory over Brighton, a rearranged fixture after United's Covid-19 breakout last year, pushed Rangnick's team back into the top four, although they also needed saves from David De Gea to get back to winning ways after three 1-1 draws.
“Of course, we should be fighting for more better things than we are doing at the moment,” said De Gea. “But the reality is that we are fighting for the top four. This is the objective. Finishing in the top four is very important for us.”
De Gea says the second-half performance was what Rangnick had wanted from his players and their task is now to perform for entire matches.
“He's a different coach, he tries to make us press high and be more aggressive,” De Gea said. “That's what we did today in the second half. Not in the first one, but in the second half we showed more of what he wants us to do.
“We pressed high, we recovered the ball much, much higher and we scored a goal. I think that was the most important thing: press higher, more aggressive and desire. More desire.
“I think we need to be much more consistent. Not just play 45 minutes - the first 45 or just the second 45. We have to be consistent for 90 minutes and then it's going to be easier to win games.
“This is what we're doing now. We try to play the 90 minutes at the same level, same desire and that's what we have to improve.”