Pogba: Manchester United season is dead, says World Cup Medal stolen

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has declared Manchester United’s season “dead” and admitted that he is not happy with how the club has performed in the past five seasons.

This is the fifth consecutive season that United have failed to win a trophy.

They are sixth in the Premier League and exited the Champions League at the last-16 stage last week against Atletico Madrid.

The club were knocked out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough in the fourth round last month and were beaten in the third round of the Carabao Cup by West Ham United earlier in the season.

Pogba, whose contract at Old Trafford expires at the end of this season, won four league titles in Italy with Juventus before rejoining United in 2016 for a club-record £94.5 million.

He helped the club win the Europa League and the League Cup in his first season but they have not won a trophy since.

Speaking to the French newspaper Le Figaro, the 29-year-old, who also revealed he had suffered from depression during José Mourinho’s tenure at United, has given the clearest indication yet that he will leave in the summer. “You have to be honest, the last five seasons have not satisfied me — really not at all,” Pogba said. “This year it is dead, we won’t win anything. Whether it is with Manchester United or at another club, I want to win trophies.”

Pogba, who is away on international duty, suggested that he prefers playing for France under Didier Deschamps than for his club under the interim manager Ralf Rangnick. “It’s simple with France, I play and I play in my position — I know my role and I feel the confidence of the coach and the players,” he said.

 “It’s normal to feel a difference at Manchester United because it’s hard to be consistent when you often have a change to your position, or the team system, or your partners.

“I get along very well with [Deschamps], he gave me a role that I know, but at Manchester United do I really have a role? I ask the question but I don’t have an answer.”

Pogba endured a fractious relationship with the former United manager Mourinho, who was in charge at Old Trafford between 2016 and 2018, and the midfielder was stripped of the vice-captaincy.

“I’ve had depression in my career, but we don’t talk about it,” Pogba said. “Sometimes you don’t know you are, you just want to isolate yourself . . . these are unmistakable signs. Personally, it started when I was with José Mourinho in Manchester.”

Pogba also revealed that his World Cup-winner’s medal was among the items stolen during the recent burglary at his home. He spoke last week of his family’s “worst nightmare” after his house was broken into while his children were asleep in their bedroom.

The incident occurred last Tuesday during United’s tie against Atletico at Old Trafford — a match that Pogba started on the bench. His children were in the care of their nanny but were not harmed in the incident. Pogba said his family had been robbed of their “sense of safety and security”.

Thieves targeted the Frenchman, stealing his 2018 World Cup-winner’s medal and other irreplaceable items. “I had quite a surprising week, with the Champions League match where I learnt that I am not going to play and when I went home, I discovered that my home was robbed following the entry of three people who stole my safe,” Pogba said.

“There was my mother’s jewellery in there, my World Cup medal . . . What scared me the most is that my two children were at home with the nanny. She overheard everything, called my wife and security, then locked herself with the boys in a room. For several days, she was shocked. The main thing is that my children are well.”

Pogba is with the France squad as they prepare for two international friendlies, at home to Ivory Coast and to South Africa.