Neil Humphreys: Nowhere to hide now for Paul Pogba
Enforced break leaves United star with no excuses but to deliver
Covid-19 has been a great leveller in so many ways that it seems almost crass to focus on perhaps the most trivial.
But the pandemic has certainly simplified matters for Paul Pogba.
No one particularly cares any more, certainly not to the degree or intensity of six months ago, when the temperament of an unsettled Manchester United midfielder actually seemed important.
But it isn't now. And such a refreshing perspective benefits both the Red Devils and Pogba, whether he cares to admit it or not.
If the Frenchman stays, he'll get a grudging shrug of gratitude. If he leaves, he'll get a grudging shrug of indifference. Either way, the balance of power has irrevocably shifted.
The onus is now on Pogba to demonstrate his worthiness to the club or the club will presumably move on without him.
Covid-19's impact goes much deeper than the obvious change in one's perspective. Europe's diminished finances, particularly in Italy and Spain, mean Pogba's insufferable agent, Mino Raiola, must operate in a new economy.
Empty stadiums and closed shopping malls do not lend themselves to an advertising and sponsorship boom. The money just isn't available for the foreseeable future, even among the traditional heavyweights.
United would reluctantly cut their losses in a knockdown sale, but would Pogba and Raiola accept a substantial cut in wages? Recent history suggests otherwise.
The midfielder's salary of £290,000 (S$512,000) a week is no longer compatible with a post-coronavirus climate of economic uncertainty.
For the first time in four years, Pogba finds himself in the rather intriguing position of needing United just as much as United need him.
INFLATED EXPECTATIONS
Indeed, his tenure itself is surprising. Four years have somehow passed and yet it's fair to say that the World Cup winner has rarely met the inflated expectations of the Old Trafford faithful.
But the new man most certainly has.
Since Bruno Fernandes' arrival in January, United's form has steadily improved.
Apart from scoring twice in five English Premier League games, picking up three assists along the way, the Portuguese midfielder's revelatory performances have given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side a real cohesion.
Fernandes offers flexibility for a manager who gravitates towards a midfield diamond. At different times, he has floated behind the front pair and dictated play from around the centre circle.
He can play ahead of Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic or drop behind Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. The latter has now recovered from injury.
In other words, Fernandes has displayed the versatility that Pogba was expected to bring, which may be a little unfair, considering the Frenchman is a leggy, box-to-box type of player, the kind once typified by his countryman Patrick Vieira.
But that swashbuckling Roy Keane archetype has fallen slightly out of favour in the gegenpressing era of snappy, counter-attacking.
Without Pogba, United opted for a more fluid 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-1-2, with Fernandes switching positions but usually delivering. Before the EPL was suspended, United had gone 11 games unbeaten and Fernandes was involved in nine of them.
With Fernandes, the new system was working.
While Pogba recovered from an ankle injury, managing just five league starts as his agent expended more energy in demanding a transfer, the worst thing happened for the pair of them. The Pogba narrative changed without their input.
Thanks to Fernandes' dramatic impact, Pogba has moved from indispensable playmaker to a potentially expendable luxury item. The 27-year-old returns at a crossroads when he should be scaling his peak.
Previously, Solskjaer had nine games to convince Pogba to stay. Now, Pogba has nine games to persuade Solskjaer to keep him. It's a challenge he must relish.
Fernandes makes no secret of his desire to play alongside Pogba. The prospect of a fruitful partnership had a major bearing on his decision to join in the first place.
His versatility raises the intriguing possibility of Pogba, McTominay and Matic joining Fernandes, with able support from Martial and Rashford, to create the most exciting midfield since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.
From a relative position of strength, Solskjaer can reassess the power dynamic between his restless Frenchman and the club, and apply his own pressure.
If Pogba wasn't bigger than the club before, he certainly isn't now. More importantly, he returns to a fragile environment - particularly around the devastated community of Greater Manchester - that is in no mood to indulge his agent's histrionics.
In light of Covid-19, Raiola needs to keep his mouth shut. And Pogba should be open to the possibility that life at Old Trafford may be as good as it gets.
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