Pogba and Man Utd may have reached point of no return as contract runs down

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is well into the final year of his Red Devils contract, one that should not be renewed if United are to take the first step in restoring themselves to their former glories.

The Frenchman is quick to point out when he feels like the media are unfair against him as is his right to do so, but what remains fact as how he has underwhelmed since returning to Manchester five years ago.

To say all of United's current issues - and there are many, stem from Pogba would be far from the truth, but there is an argument to be made that he embodies all that is both right and wrong with the current crop of talent at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's disposal.

Mercurial on his day, Pogba's best abandons him too often to justify the £89m United parted ways with to entice him back to the city he left some five years earlier.

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Paul Pogba has just 8 months left on his Man Utd contract ( Image:

Manchester United via Getty Imag)

Seven assists in nine league games would suggest Pogba is far from Solskjaer's biggest problem - but when one factors in that all of them came in United's opening four league games, a clearer picture of the Frenchman's form is presented.

His scintillating start to the league season led many sections of the United faithful to call for a renewal of Pogba's contract, which expires at the end of this season.

A client of notorious 'super agent' Mino Raiola, Pogba's future has been up in the air for months.

According to his representative, there is nothing new to report when it comes to where Pogba's immediate future lies.

Speaking to The Times, Raiola said: "You would have to ask Manchester United about it.

"At this moment everything is calm. There is no update."

It is unfair to pin United's recent failure entirely on the shoulders of Pogba, he has often been let down by the quality of midfielders around him.

However, the midfielder has fallen significantly short of the expectations that were fairly placed on his shoulders upon his arrival.

Does Pogba make your Manchester United starting eleven? Choose below

The latest low in Pogba's turbulent United career came during the recent 5-0 home humiliation at the hands of rivals Liverpool, where the Frenchman was shown a red card 15 minutes after being introduced as a half-time substitute.

The 28-year-old's disastrous cameo sparked backlash from a number of prominent United voices, including Paul Scholes, who claimed Pogba should never play for the club again.

"Paul Pogba coming on to the pitch at half-time to try and help the team and maybe get a little respectability about it, tries to stand on the ball, tries to show how strong he is in the middle of the pitch… gives the goal away," Scholes explained.

Paul Pogba was sent off during the recent defeat by Liverpool ( Image:

Getty Images)

"Then later on gets sent off with a ridiculous tackle. Now you're 5-0 down with 10 men. You'd have to think, if Ole's still a manager there, will we see Pogba again in a United shirt?

"He's caused mayhem over the last couple of years. Everyone knows what a talent he is, everybody trusts him, every manager trusts him, tried to give him his head and let him be the player he's been.

"But with all the commotion, not signing his contract, almost holding the club to ransom, and then he comes on and does something like that."

Scholes sums it up best in his assessment that with the contractual situation looming large over both Pogba and United's heads - perhaps it is for the best they cut ties once and for all.