JOSE MOURINHO

is said to be increasingly frustrated with Paul Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola. It is not hard to understand why. Raiola may have delivered a stable of superstars to Old Trafford, but they have not exactly delivered for Mourinho since arriving. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has already been moved on to Arsenal, Romelu Lukaku was outstanding against Chelsea on Sunday, but has only scored once against a team in the top eight, while Pogba has been inconsistent, and has not responded well to a changed role. That leaves Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who impressed in his first season, but got injured and Sergio Romero, the reserve-team goalkeeper. It is quite a motley crew for the influence Raiola exerts at United, particularly over Pogba. High-maintenance individuals need to hit the highest standards to be worth the trouble. It is hard to argue that is true of Raiola’s clients, yet.