Ralf Rangnick's prediction about Paul Pogba at Manchester United was wrong.
It was officially confirmed last Wednesday that Pogba will leave United upon the expiration of his contract on June 30. Pogba is leaving United on a free transfer, exactly 10 years after departing the club for free and he seems set for a return to Juventus.
United paid a then world-record fee of £89m for Pogba in 2016 and the midfielder has underwhelmed during his second stint at Old Trafford. Pogba's future at United had been uncertain all season and Rangnick was asked back in January whether there was any point in selecting him for the remainder of the campaign. The German insisted that there was merit in picking Pogba.
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Rangnick predicted that Pogba would perform well for United, despite uncertainty around his future, and that has been proven wrong. Pogba made 14 appearances for United after Rangnick's comments were made and he failed to make an impact in those matches, scoring just once, before picking up an injury at Liverpool in April.
“Yes, of course,” Rangnick said. “I also played Nemanja Matic in the last games and his contract is also expiring [in June 2023]. My contract as a manager is also expiring in the summer.
"For us we have the same goal. We have the same ambition to be as successful as we can possibly be in the next three or four months. It’s not a question if a player has an expiring contract, the question is how much does he still want to be a part of this group.
"How much does he still feel emotionally and physically on board. As long as this is the case, why shouldn’t Paul Pogba now, after two and a half months of injury, fully fit again, and he wants to show the fans of Manchester United, the board, the whole world what kind of player he can be?
"Even if it’s only to show enough for a new contract elsewhere, he will be highly motivated to do that and why should I then not play him? But there is a difference in how players deal with their current situation.
"If they handle that in a professional way, an ambitious way, I will play players although they have a contract expiring in the summer.”
While Rangnick was right in suggesting Matic could still offer something ahead of his own exit, with Pogba it was never the case.
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