Man United boss: ‘No doubts’ Pogba will stay
Wayne Rooney chats with ESPN about the upcoming Premier League season, Manchester United’s lack of transfers this summer and Paul Pogba’s future. (1:15)
CARDIFF, Wales — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he has “no doubts” that Paul Pogba will still be a Manchester United player at the end of this summer’s transfer window.
The midfielder did not travel to Cardiff ahead of the penalty shootout win over AC Milan on Saturday in United’s final friendly prompting fresh speculation he could leave for Real Madrid. Sources told ESPN FC earlier on Saturday that Pogba was keen to join Zinedine Zidane’s side.
But Solskjaer insisted it was his decision to omit Pogba from the squad after the Frenchman complained of a back spasm before suggesting he would be fit to face Chelsea when the Premier League kicks off next weekend.
“No doubts at all,” said Solskjaer when asked whether Pogba would still be a United player after the transfer deadline. “I wasn’t expecting him [on the flight to Cardiff]. I spoke to him after training and he didn’t feel right. He’ll probably be back early on next week training.
“It’s not an injury, it’s just some pain. He’s not injured, but I wasn’t going to risk anything this weekend. He should be OK for Chelsea.”
Pogba was left behind at Carrington along with wantaway striker Romelu Lukaku, who has been reprimanded for posting training data on Twitter.
The Belgian revealed running stats from preseason that showed he recorded the second-highest top speed during training in Perth on July 10 behind only Diogo Dalot. Luke Shaw and Juan Mata were bottom.
Sources have told ESPN FC that Lukaku was told to delete the tweet, and Solskjaer has also confirmed he has spoken to the 26-year-old about the incident.
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“I’ve spoken to Rom, to put it that way,” said Solskjaer. “That’s case closed.”
Solskjaer is hopeful that new signing Harry Maguire will be announced in the next 48 hours after the England defender underwent a medical at Carrington on Saturday. United agreed a £80 million fee with Leicester on Friday, and Maguire is in line to make his United debut against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Aug.11.
“Hopefully the last little details will be in place and we can announce something soon,” said Solskjaer.
In the shootout win over AC Milan at the Principality Stadium, Dan James scored the winning kick after Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard had got United’s goals in a 2-2 draw in normal time.