Manchester United manager José Mourinho's fractious relationship with Paul Pogba could be down to rumours that he has been 'strong-armed' into playing the French World Cup winner.
The pair's uneasy relationship has been played out in the media - with Pogba stripped of the club's vice-captaincy after he informed his manager he wanted to leave the club earlier this season.
United We Stand Editor Andy Mitten claims the Portuguese has been forced to play the midfielder in his team for commercial reasons and can't see a happy ending for the pair at the Old Trafford club.
"He wasn't a Mourinho signing and as well as being 'strong-armed' into signing him - he feels 'strong-armed' into playing him as well," Mitten told Eoin. "I think Paul Pogba is a very good, hugely talented player - I think he's a really nice lad who has been massively successful - it's just not working as well as people would have hoped at Manchester United.
"We're seeing that more and more this season. Do you blame the manager for that? Do you blame the player? Or, do you blame the confidence of the player being down because of the manager? I think these are all legitimate areas to look into.
"It's a crying shame because in Mourinho - United have had one of the most successful managers and Manchester United hoped to rebuild their team and club around Paul Pogba.
"Paul Pogba wanted to go to Real Madrid - that's after Barcelona dropped out - so that's in 2016. And, United sat down with him and said 'If you go to Real Madrid, you'll be one of four or five stars. But, if you come to Manchester United - you will be the star. Look at your social media reactions when you're linked with Manchester United compared to Madrid - It's miles, miles bigger. And, look at how big a star we can make you in the online world' and they got the player because of that.
"Obviously, there were other attractions; Pogba knew Manchester, the wage packet wasn't bad - it was a little bit more than a living wage! And, they got the player which is all part of United's strategy in recruiting players and they feel like they have to because maybe Manchester, as a city to live in, isn't as attractive as Madrid.
"Maybe it isn't as attractive as playing for Pep Guardiola so United feel like they have to accentuate the positives. They broke the world transfer record to sign Paul Pogba and he's had some good moments, he's had some great moments; the performance against City away last season when they came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 but the consistency is just not there.
"I just can't see a happy ending with the two of them at Manchester United. I hope that I'm wrong. We're now into our third year and these issues are still the main issues at Manchester United and José's got his perspective and Pogba's got his perspective - that doesn't bring unity when they're breathing against each other," he added.
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