Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted Paul Pogba will not be leaving Manchester United before Monday’s transfer deadline. The window remains open for clubs throughout Europe and there have still been suggestions Pogba could move on at this very late stage. Or at least they may have to deal with offers for the Frenchman.
Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain have all been heavily linked, but it became clear as soon as the Premier League transfer window closed that Pogba would be spending one more season with United.
Pogba was in the side that had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday, and there are concerns over his fitness.
The Frenchman was seen limping out of the ground after Solskjaer revealed he “got a bad knock on his ankle”, and now they face an anxious wait to find out the severity of the injury.
Any time on the sidelines will be a blow for United and they will be keeping their fingers crossed that it is nothing serious.
Despite an underwhelming display on the south coast, Solskjaer backed the France midfielder to live up to the lofty expectations placed on him in the campaign ahead.
The Norwegian also insisted Pogba will not be leaving the club despite continued speculation linking him with a move away. “I think we as a team after about half an hour started giving sloppy balls away and Paul was one of them,” Solskjaer said after the game. “He wasn’t any different to anyone else, we as a team didn’t play well but in the last 20 minutes or half an hour he did create loads for us going forward. “Everyone expects everything from him every game, he has to defend, he has to attack, he has to win headers, he has to dribble past people, he has to make passes. That’s just Paul and he’ll thrive on that. Paul Pogba will be playing for us.”
Solskjaer lamented a lack of cutting edge against Saints as the Reds once again fell short.
Daniel James’ stunning opener had the visitors dreaming of a first away win since March’s jaw-dropping Champions League triumph at Paris St Germain.
But United endured an eighth successive winless match on the road as a towering Jan Vestergaard header made it 1-1 and Solskjaer’s side failed to capitalise on Kevin Danso’s second-half sending-off.
They had already wasted a number of chances after taking the lead, leaving them heading into the international break with a mere four points.
