Why Paul Pogba’s past, present and future so perfectly symbolises where muddled Man Utd are as a club

Pogba’s situation poses a big problem for United. This is what happens when there is a lack of central planning at a club like this: there are no obvious next steps and no natural solution. What next?

So, with the actual football done, the real games can begin. It probably says much about Paul Pogba’s situation that he still seems more adept at dominating the centre of the news cycle than he does the centre of a pitch. Some senior figures at Old Trafford are said to be "livid", especially given the 26-year-old was not supposed to be discussing his future on any such trips. Others describe it as a "typical Mina Raiola move". Either way, the 26-year-old has expertly worked the elements available to him, such as a commercial partner media gig, to announce that he wants a “new challenge”.

The challenge of leading Manchester United’s midfield, and fully releasing all that potential as he comes to his prime, doesn’t feel like one he has actually passed yet. Nor has he so well worked the midfield partners available to him.

The bigger question is whether he ever can pass that challenge, but even the problem with that is it may not be just down to Pogba.

This is the fundamental dilemma for the player, the team and the Old Trafford hierarchy. It is a dilemma appropriately reflective of a club currently lacking in direction, who are in a state of stasis.

That means there is a lot of direction for blame, with a lot of it having already gone to Pogba himself.

That can still feel unfair.

It can be simultaneously true that the French star has done relatively well with United, and has immense talent that is worth persisting with, but that he hasn’t even come close to fulfilling that talent at Old Trafford.

It can similarly be simultaneously true that United do not offer the best circumstances to do that, but that Pogba could have done more.

And round and round the circle goes, but still with the club maybe never leaving sixth place.

It is why Pogba’s situation poses a big problem for United, but also an opportunity.

This is what happens when there is a lack of central planning at a club like this. There are no obvious steps. There's no solution that totally "fits".

The very signing of Pogba perhaps sums this up.

Paul Pogba could make another big-money move in the upcoming window (Getty)

He was brought in - for huge money that inherently demanded huge influence - for a role he wasn’t yet ready for. He was essentially signed to be a leader when he needed a few more years being led.

Every problem effectively stems from this, right up to the current impasse.

What immediately followed his purchases, after all, were a series of signings to “unlock” Pogba. He was inadvertently dictating transfer policy without consciously dictating the middle of the pitch.

None of those signings have yet really worked, although there are many caveats. Nemanja Matic has probably been past his best since before he joined. Fred has been adjusting to a new country, although there are doubts over whether he has the football tools to do that.

He is wanted by both PSG and Real Madrid (Getty) (Getty / Independent)

So they just added to the jumble that United’s midfield options are: a group of different players, with very different career profiles, all signed by different managers to do different jobs. Only to then have to abruptly change up.

It is less wonder that the already self-indulgent Pogba sometimes doesn’t seem to know the best time or place to give it.

And that just reflects what has been going on with the team as a whole. It is a mishmash of ideas, and ill-fitting parts signed by different managers.

This is really what a technical director should be deciding, but it does not seem any will be appointed before the summer, or ever afforded the power to set that kind of vision.

The Frenchman has failed to ignite at Old Trafford (Reuters)

The bottom line is that Pogba is one of the few parts who represents value, and the sort of top-level talent that a club like United need as central to any vision, but are now sorely lacking in.

That very fact is now a natural reason he wants to go. They don’t have enough quality to challenge for the trophies he now feels he should be challenging for.

And yet, if it hasn’t been working, and may not work, selling him at least offers the chance for a rebuild; to set a new identity. That is why it can be an opportunity.

So, on that circle goes again, without that obvious solution.

An added issue is that United needed to solve problems with that midfield anyway, after the departures of Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera. They need bodies, at the very least, although there is the suggestion of more potential there.

Sources feel an agreement for the very talented Bruno Fernandes of Sporting Lisbon will eventually be completed, and Adrien Rabiot is another option being pursued.

Discussing a deal with Paris Saint-Germain for Rabiot will inevitably mean discussing a deal with them for Pogba, since the French champions are interested. So is Zinedine Zidane, but his club Real Madrid are not interested at a high price. Former club Juventus are meanwhile monitoring it all.

United’s official stance is that Pogba is not for sale.

And yet the unofficial view from many sources is that “everything depends” on his situation. It could yet dictate a lot, not least whether they bring in players like Monaco’s Youri Tielemans, or James Maddison of Leicester City. As regards the latter, there’s the added issue that Leicester will likely only let one of Maddison or Harry Maguire go, with the latter more likely.

These are the kind of entanglements that United are caught up in, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer desperately tries to forge a clearer path forward.

Pogba’s unclear circumstances thereby come at a particularly inopportune time, but were entirely inevitable.

He symbolises where the club are at, but not in the manner intended.

The games are just getting started, and can have a huge influence on the actual football for some time to come.