WHY SAY ANYTHING?

According to The Guardian, which is often our go-to source for football news, Paul Pogba may be off to Barcelona in January.

To be fair, this little snippet of information is to be found in “The Rumour Mill” which is the nearest the paper’s reporters are allowed to printing truths, half-truths and the occasional porky although they are not to know that at the time.

Like most other publications they too have their sources and they will range from excellent and usually correct to rubbish and not worth the £5.00 finders fee.

The source, in this instance, is Sky Deutschland who asked Pogba about his future when Germany and France met in the Nations League game in Münich.

Pogba, as with the likes of David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and several others too numerous to mention here, stated that he had a contract but, at the end of that contract, who knows what will happen.

So he admitted to not being clairvoyant and, assuming he is ambitious, he may seek pastures new if he has not been collecting medals on a regular basis.

Every other newspaper reported his interview as a portent of his imminent departure and as a sign of a player wanting to get away from Old Trafford as soon as possible.

Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t read the press, or so he said. He always seemed to know when they were reporting, in his eyes, lies and he was always prepared to haul them over the coals for it. Not too bad for someone who never read the rags.

Josę Mourinho is another who claims to never read the written word. Well, not the ones written by the great British football press, anyway.

If he is being truthful then he will not currently be losing any sleep over what is being reported about Pogba who, from what we can gather, is towing the company line and not saying anything dramatic or unexpected.

What the different newspapers have made of this is nothing short of sensationalism. An industry struggling for headlines and so exaggerating some perfectly normal comments made by a footballer during an interview.

It really isn’t that important. If Pogba leaves in January so what? If United choose to buy a replacement, so what?

The biggest departure we have ever survived as long-suffering United supporters was that of George Best. Since then, no player has come close to his ability or talent so, if Pogba clears off to Barcelona we certainly won’t be reaching for the handkerchief.

In other news…..

Guess who has just been voted “Premier League Player of the Month”? Now, guess which club he wanted to join when he decided to leave PSG? You’re probably right on both counts and, not only that but, before joining PSG, Lucas Moura was reported to be joining Manchester United.

Obviously he didn’t join United on either of the two occasions when the club could have bought him. Why is that? Were the scouts watching M’Bappé and Neymar instead. That would be the instruction from Ed Woodward, no doubt.

Andy Robertson, the Liverpool left-back, has just been given the captaincy of Scotland. Not too bad for a young man of 24.

It was all fairly predictable because it was obvious, if only to ourselves and a few fans, that when he was at Dundee United he was going to be a good ‘un. So where were United’s scouts then? As is now well known, he left Dundee United for Hull and then moved to Liverpool. Another one missed.

So two players who could, and maybe should, have been wearing the red of Manchester United are now playing for two of their biggest rivals. Well done Ed, and you still didn’t get Gareth Bale or Cristiano Ronaldo, who wouldn’t have fitted in anyway!

And finally…..

The jury is out on the new-fangled Nations League. It does, in fairness, add a little interest to otherwise totally boring and useless friendly matches. At least with the promotion and relegation and the four Euro places at stake, there is something to play for as well as pride.

The one big question still remaining is why it is necessary to interrupt a Premier League season after only four games have been played. Assuming that more players will wish to be involved in the new tournament as it is now competitive, if nothing else, then the risk of injury to star players is increased.

That being the case it won’t be very long before the top players are pulling out of these internationals as well, particularly when their clubs are competing at the top end of their respective leagues.

When that starts to happen, the end is nigh.