The departure of the Frenchman is not news. Already in the spring, it was clear that Pogba and Manchester United were not going further along the way.
Manchester United have not won anything this year or in the past. I want to take titles, play for something,” Paul said at the end of March.
The Frenchman returned to Manchester United in 2016 from Juventus for 105 million euros. With the club, he won the Europa League and the English League Cup in 2017. After returning, he played 154 matches and scored 29 goals. It was assumed that Pogba would reach the top level at Manchester United, but he never became a real leader of the team and very often lost his form.
It’s time for a new challenge.
Where to go?
The player was claimed by a trio: Juventus, PSG and Man City. But it seems that there is only one real option left.
- Pogba prefers a move to Juventus, but in this case he will have to halve his salary – the Italian club is not ready to pay the player more than 7-8 million euros. La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that the parties have already agreed on a three-year contract with a salary of 7.5 million euros per year. At the same time, together with bonuses, the amount can grow to 10 million per season.
- PSG seemed ready to offer Pogba more money than Juventus. But, according to L’Équipe, the French club refused to sign the midfielder, as Leonardo, who insisted on Pogba’s invitation, is leaving the club, and Paul is not included in the plans of the new sporting director Luis Campos.
- Man City also thought about Pogba, but this option was ruled out by the player himself – also because of the fear of a negative reaction from the Manchester United fans. According to The Times, Paul believes that United fans would make his life miserable if he moved to City.
Manchester United is actively unloading the payroll. Pogba’s departure is just the beginning of a process
United are used to throwing money around on transfers and salaries – now they have to clean up bloated payrolls. In the 2016/17 season, Manchester United ranked first in the Deloitte Football Money League rankings (676.3 million euros in revenue) – according to the results of 2020/21, it fell to fifth (558 million).
Even if United does not lose ground in the new financial year, it will definitely sag in the next – there will be no fat prize money from the Champions League.
Now Manchester United is actively working on optimizing the budget. The Daily Mail reported that after 0:4 from Brighton (then Manchester United lost the mathematical chances of qualifying for the Champions League), clauses were activated in the contracts of some stars – it is known for sure about De Gea and Ronaldo: up to 25% will be deducted from the salaries of the Spaniard and the Portuguese.
This is what their paychecks will look like.