Man Utd midfielder Paul Pogba has turned down the chance to move to Man City in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The Frenchman’s contract at Old Trafford runs out at the end of this season and looks extremely likely to leave the club for a new challenge.
Pogba was good in spells during 2017/18 and 2018/19 when he got 19 goals and 19 assists in the Premier League over those two seasons.
But over the last few campaigns his performances have been poor in the main with the 29-year-old struggling to have a big impact during matches.
And there has been speculation over the last week that Man City could sign Pogba from arch-rivals Man Utd on a free transfer but the latest reports insist that won’t be happening.
The Athletic now claim that despite Pogba being ‘a genuine candidate’ to replace Fernandinho at Man City, they insist the ‘potential switch is not going to happen’.
It is understood that the Man Utd midfielder has ‘opted against joining City, instead favouring the whole package offered by another club’.
Pogba ‘received a flattering proposal from City and gave serious contemplation to the five-time Premier League champions’ but his agents ‘are believed to have informed City that the France international is to continue his career at a different team’.
The report does not confirm the identity of this other team but Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus are all possible destinations.
Jamie Carragher will no doubt think City have dodged a bullet with the former Liverpool defender insisting yesterday that Pep Guardiola should stay well away from the Man Utd midfielder.
Carrragher said on Sky Sports: “I wouldn’t go anywhere near him. You win the league every year, get 95 to a 100 points. He doesn’t work hard as much as the other players, if Pep could get it out of him fantastic, there’s no doubting his ability but when you look at City’s creative players Foden, Bernardo Silva these types of players who are brilliant and don’t stop working from minute one to 90, that’s what makes Man City who they are.
“They are a great team, brilliant manager, great individuals. He does not work hard enough that’s the end of it. Anyone says that he gives 100% in the game, that’s a lie.
Pogba for Citeh!
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) May 8, 2022
“That’s a massive problem for me, so the manager demands I work hard so a manager doesn’t demand I work hard, I don’t work hard as a player? I can’t get my head round that. I played for about five or six managers at Liverpool, it didn’t matter who the manager was in terms of being committed every week.
“Paul Pogba whether you see him in a French shirt or at United, unbelievable quality, but we’re still six years in and we’re still talking about his best position, who can get the best out of him. Come on.
“I don’t know how we’re still talking about it five or six years in about how to get the best out of him, get the best out of yourself, you don’t need a manager for to get the best out of you?”
