According to news from the BBC, Paul Pogba is “unlikely” to play for Manchester United again this season, at least, going by the words of interim manager Ralf Rangnick. The France midfielder, 29, is out of contract this summer and came off 10 minutes into Tuesday’s 4-0 defeat by Liverpool with a calf injury.
Pogba is set to be out “four weeks minimum”, with United’s last game of the season at Crystal Palace on 22 May. “It is very unlikely he will play again until the end of the season,” said Rangnick.
Asked if Pogba has played his final game for the club, the German replied: “The doctor told me it will take four weeks minimum for him to recover and the last game is the end of May. “I don’t think that it is very likely that he will be able to play again.”
Pogba came through United’s academy before joining Juventus in 2012 and returned to Old Trafford for a world-record fee of £89m in 2016. In his second spell with the club, the 2018 World Cup winner has scored 39 goals in 226 appearances, helping them win the League Cup and Europa League in 2017. United have five Premier League games left, beginning with Saturday’s trip to Arsenal, when Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Scott McTominay are likely to return.
Portugal forward Ronaldo, 37, scored a hat-trick in last Saturday’s 3-2 win over Norwich but missed Tuesday’s game at Liverpool following the death of his baby boy. On Thursday the club announced Ajax coach Erik ten Hag will become United’s permanent manager at the end of the season.
“Obviously I told [the club’s board], at least from what I have seen and known from people who had worked with Erik, that I think he would be a good choice,” said Rangnick, who will move into a consultancy role at Old Trafford. “I still believe that he is a very good choice.”
