Transfer Season: Do Manchester United Need to Replace Pogba?

There are few times I have willingly admitted defeat. One time my adult league basketball team was down 40 points. The second time was last weekend when I drunkenly made a bet that I could eat 2 breakfast burritos. This is my third, and hopefully last, time having to swallow my pride. Paul Pogba just isn’t worth it anymore.

Over time, I have found peace with this statement after weeks of hearing John criticize my sweet French Prince. I tried to show United the way to keeping Pogba. I even wrote a lamentation following yet another international break scandal. There’s an old saying of heroes living long enough to see themselves become the villain.

Whatever. Looking for a replacement in the Transfer Market is not to different from hiring talent in the business world.

External (Transfer) Markets

Stop me if you heard this before, but Manchester United are linked with multiple midfielders in the summer transfer window. Crazy, right? Among this list of names are Eduardo Camavinga, Declan Rice, Ruben Neves, Saul, and Leon Goretzka. Quite the talented list, but guess what? Most of these names are just agent camps posturing for a new deal or using United as leverage.

Camavinga apparently has his sights set on Madrid, Declan Rice is grossly overpriced, and Saul is a name used in Greizmann swap talks. Leon Goretzka is a strange one ’cause why leave the greatest German club ever where silverware is pretty much guaranteed every year? Ruben Neves is a Wolves player who seems integral in their rebuild. Is Ruben Neves really the answer?

United have done well with transfers this summer but is that overstretching? Remember, Woodward is still at the helm. I’m not too keen on Neves being allowed to leave after his team performed terribly and are in a struggle to retain talent. I have been wrong before though.

Internal Promotions

I can see only one name to fill the role: DVB. Donny just came back from his holiday, so it will likely be a race for fitness to start the season. Simply put, his first campaign was lackluster. The fans are gonna hate me for that, but its the truth. The only saving grace was that his underwhelming first season was only like 3% his fault. Ole got Donny late, didn’t trust him to start league games, and didn’t trust him (or any other sub for that matter) to come off the bench.

Ole is said to be experimenting with a modified 4-3-3 this summer, which if seen through, will be the first time this formation will be used quite possibly ever. Weird it takes a superstar player leaving for the club to switch to a formation Pogba once made the FIFA World XI with at 21 YEARS OLD, but I digress. Donny excelled playing in the 4-3-3 at Ajax, so who’s to say he can’t replicate his prior form and lock down a starting role.

The Verdict on a Transfer

In business, as well as the soccer world, it’s good for morale to promote from within. In the soccer world, you can’t necessarily hide bad decisions as easily. You only get 16 people per match to make a difference and leave your imprint and intention on the rest of the league. For this reason, I think United should look externally.

I am not sure Donny is the answer, but I’m also not sure he isn’t the answer. With the midfield a little short of true starters after Bruno and McTominay (maybe), I think the only option is to replace Pogba with a like-for-like midfielder. Let the new player and Donny duke it out, and may the best man win the starting role. The season is too long to have a glaring hole, and too short to think a few slip ups doesn’t affect a potential title race. Any potential feelings of being butthurt I’m sure are likely to go away if United lift #21 come May 2022.