POG’S AT WAR Ince believes £89M star could be regretting United return as odds tumble on a summer departure

United’s £89m signing wants to attack, while Mourinho is demanding defensive discipline.. it is an explosive issue which, despite all the denials, is causing disharmony at Old Trafford

PAUL POGBA may “regret” returning to Manchester United as he argues with manager Jose Mourinho over his best position.

It has left former Old Trafford star Paul Ince convinced that Pogba, 24, could leave the Reds this summer.

United’s record £89million signing is becoming increasingly disillusioned playing in his role

JOSE MOURINHO tried to defuse the idea of issues between him and Paul Pogba last week by focusing on the pundits – the “Einsteins” of football, as he calls them.

His voice heavy with sarcasm and contempt, Mourinho described the France international’s role and said: “Paul is a midfield player. There’s no confusion between me and Paul.”

No confusion? The Manchester United boss was responding in the wake of his decision to drop Pogba against Huddersfield, having replaced him three days earlier, with almost half-an-hour remaining, in the Reds’ 2-0 defeat away to Tottenham.

No confusion? Last weekend it was a familiar story, with Pogba hauled off moments after failing to jump for the header which led to Newcastle’s goal in a shock 1-0 defeat that has put United’s topfour hopes in the balance.

Actions certainly speak louder than words and it is clear the relationship between Mourinho and Pogba is strained, however the Portuguese tries to spin it, and has the potential to worsen if a resolution is not found.

At the core of the issue is Pogba’s frustration at Mourinho’s insistence on deploying him as part of a deep-lying two-man midfield alongside Nemanja Matic (below), a role to which United’s record £89million signing feels ill-suited.

Pogba believes the role – which requires defensive diligence and discipline – restricts him from expressing his strengths, namely linking the midfield and attack, and creating and scoring goals.

The 24-yearold has been at his best for United this season on the left of a midfield three, such as on New Year’s Day, when he was man of the match in a 2-0 win at Everton, with Matic and Ander Herrera taking care of the defensive side of things, leaving their more celebrated team-mate free to run amok further up the pitch.

Pogba wants a return to that role, one which offers him more freedom and licence to roam, but Mourinho appears reluctant, hence the current impasse, which threatens to derail United’s season at a crucial time.

The signs were there in United’s defeat to Spurs at Wembley, with Mourinho and Pogba involved in a heated touchline discussion before the latter’s withdrawal, during which the United boss appeared to be berating his star midfielder for an apparent failure to carry out the instructions he had been given. The plot thickened with Pogba’s demotion to the bench for the win over Huddersfield, with further fuel added to the fire at Newcastle, when Mourinho made an example of the France international by hooking him for Michael Carrick. There is no getting away from the fact Pogba’s second season since returning to United from Juventus has been hampered by injury and suspension. Before he was sidelined for two months with a hamstring injury, missing 12 games, Pogba had been in impressive form. But his enforced absence halted his rhythm, while a threegame ban for a red card at Arsenal in December – which ruled him out of the Manchester derby – had a similar effect. But those setbacks cannot be blamed for the ongoing situation and why Mourinho has not been able to harness the talents of one of Europe’s most talented young players, and ensure he is running games week-in, week-out, like Kevin De Bruyne is doing across town at Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola plays to De Bruyne’s attacking strengths as part of a midfield three, with Fernandinho anchoring in the holding role, and David Silva or Ilkay Gundogan occupying the other spot.

That allows De Bruyne (left) to take opponents apart with his supreme vision and range of passing, and one in which Pogba has excelled this season on the rare occasions Mourinho has decided to play 4-3-3.

Alexis Sanchez’s starry arrival, on exorbitant wages, has also not helped, on and off the pitch, with Pogba having been usurped as United’s highest-paid player and no longer the key man within Mourinho’s team.

It remains to be seen whether the manager, historically stubborn and reluctant to yield to external pressure, affords Pogba the freedom he craves.

No confusion? Something has to give to ensure the discontent does not turn into a full-blown toxic fallout between the pair.