Solskjaer: Raiola comments had no impact on decision to drop Pogba

Joe Wright

Solskjaer: Raiola comments had no impact on decision to drop Pogba image

Paul Pogba was dropped from the Manchester United starting line-up for Tuesday's crucial Champions League clash with RB Leipzig.

The midfielder started the 3-1 Premier League win at West Ham on Saturday, scoring his side's first goal as they came from behind to take all three points at London Stadium.

However, Pogba was left out of the team for the trip to the Bundesliga side just a day after his agent, Mino Raiola, claimed he is unhappy at Manchester United and should be sold in the next transfer window.

"I can say that it’s over for Paul Pogba at Manchester United," Raiola told Tuttosport.

He added: "Paul is unhappy with Man United as he is no longer able to express himself in the way that he would like and as he is expected to. Paul needs a new team, a change of air.

"He is under contract for the next 18 months and it will expire in the summer of 2022."

Ahead of Tuesday's match, Solskjaer said that Pogba's exclusion was tactical, saying he simply preferred Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic.

“Nothing," he told BT Sport when asked what Raiola's impact was. "You prepare for a game as if it's your last one – we have Man City on Saturday but we are focused on this one. The preparation is good.

“My decision is tactical. We made a team decision way before this game as we decided to play Scott and Nemanja in midfield.”

The outspoken Raiola added that Pogba could return to Juventus, having left the Italian club to head back to Manchester United in 2016 for what was then a world-record transfer fee of £89 million ($119m).

Pogba has also been linked with Real Madrid, having said several times in recent years that he could see himself playing for the Spanish giants.

The France international, whose season has been impacted by injury and struggles with coronavirus, has made 13 appearances in all competitions in 2020-21.

Pogba was one of five changes made by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from the win at West Ham, with David de Gea and Luke Shaw returning from injury to feature, the latter set to make his 150th appearance for the club.

Nemanja Matic, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford were also recalled to the starting XI.

United need a draw to guarantee their place in the last 16, while Leipzig need a win to progress.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.