FED-UP Manchester United chiefs want Paul Pogba out of the club in the January transfer window.
His agent’s disgracefully-timed statement on the eve of United’s crucial Champions League clash with RB Leipzig was the final straw.
Mino Raiola destabilised boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s preparations — and they lost 3-2 to crash out of the competition.
Raiola told an Italian sports website that Pogba’s time at Old Trafford was over, that he was not happy and should be sold.
United had flat out refused to be bullied by Raiola, who has been an irritant during Pogba’s second spell at the club.
But now the Red Devils top brass are ready to accept defeat and let their £89million club-record signing go.
They want their money back but may have to drop the asking price as low as £50m to find a buyer for the French World Cup winner.
Pogba, 27, favours a return to Juventus. The Italian giants would welcome back their four-time Serie A winner — but it is whether they have the cash.
United could have sold the midfielder to Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 but their £180m fee was never going to be met by the Spaniards and the chance was gone.
Having got rid of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez back then, Solskjaer was prepared to let Pogba go too — as long as he got the money to reinvest in his squad.
Now Pogba has become an unwanted sideshow that is starting to affect the Norwegian’s running of the team.
He probably cost Jose Mourinho his job when the former United manager axed Pogba from the team and stripped him of the vice-captaincy.
The club’s sympathies at the time were with Pogba, believing Mourinho was having a meltdown.
Looking back now, the board might revise their thoughts on that.
Solskjaer left the France star out of the starting XI against Leipzig on Tuesday but brought him on 16 minutes into the second half with United 2-0 down.
He scored a header to cut Leipzig’s lead to 3-2 — and almost forced an own goal with a late cross that would have seen United scrape through.
But his form has been poor in general and he is unlikely to win back his place for Saturday’s Manchester derby.
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