Manchester United to sell Pogba

English Premiership football club Manchester United will sell Paul Pogba in the summer after accepting that the Frenchman will not be signing a new contract.

The World Cup winner has been in excellent form for the club since his agent Mino Raiola declared last month that the £89 million midfielder’s time at Old Trafford was “over”.

Pogba, 27, has enjoyed a spectacular return to form since his agent Raiola confirmed again last months that the £89 million midfielder wants to leave Old Trafford.

United triggered a one-year contract extension that ties him to the club until the summer of 2022 in October.

But while manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been delighted with Pogba’s attitude and application as his team have stormed up to second place in the Premier League, there is now an acceptance at the club that they must sell him at the end of the season to recoup some of the cash they handed to Juventus to bring him back to Manchester in 2016.

Bruno Fernandes has emerged as United’s top performer over the last year.

And the Portuguese said after the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Friday night that he believes Solskjaer is on the brink of building something special.

But Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris St Germain are all interested in Pogba.

And United are hoping that a bidding war will push up the fee they will bank.

United have won eight of their last 10 Premier League games and now face rivals Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

Fernandes said: “I think Paul was top. But we all know the qualities he has. I think it is not in doubt.

“I hope people are not in doubt on the qualities of Paul because we know he can play, he can help us and he can play really well.

“I think we are building something important.

“The most important for us is building a team, building a group of players who take care of each other.

“As I sit in the stands in the last two or three minutes, everyone is shouting and hoping to don’t concede a goal and to take care of the ball.

“Everyone wanted the three points, everyone wanted that win and this is what it is all about.

“Now we have to build on this more and more.”

In October, United triggered a one-year contract extension to tie Pogba to the club until the summer of 2022, but are now reportedly hoping to recoup some of the money that they paid to Juventus some four-and-a-half years ago.

The news comes nearly a month after Sportsmail revealed that Pogba is set for heart-to-heart talks with Solskjaer this month with a return to the Serie A champions on the cards.

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are interested in the France international, while other reports have suggested swap deals with one of Juventus duo Paulo Dybala or Cristiano Ronaldo could be on the cards.

Gary Neville also insisted following Raiola’s comments that United “have got to find an exit” for Pogba, however Solskjaer said at the start of the Christmas period that winning trophies will help convince players like Pogba that their future remains at Old Trafford. — The Mirror.