Mourinho and Pogba in training ground clash

Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba shared a tenselooking training ground exchange the day after the Manchester United manager stripped the midfielder of the vice-captaincy.

Old Trafford is under the spotlight once again as Tuesday’s shock Carabao Cup exit to second-tier Derby compounded fresh speculation over the club’s record signing.

Mourinho confirmed post-match that the rested midfielder will no long skipper the side in the absence of Antonio Valencia. It was reported in the build-up that the Reds boss had told the World Cup winner in front of the squad that he would not captain United again as he did not embody what the club is about.

Mourinho, pictured, denied any falling out with Pogba when confirming the decision, but Sky Sports’ footage from training the following morning suggests all is not well. The 25-yearold was seen shaking hands with coach Michael Carrick, Mourinho and a member of United’s media team, before looking taken aback by something the manager said. Pogba then had an apparently exasperated discussion with Mourinho in a clip viewed four million times in little more than three hours on one of the channel’s Twitter posts.

Pogba returned to Old Trafford from Juventus in 2016, but his relationship with the manager whosigned him has been testy at times. United’s hierarchy steadfastly refused to sell the reportedly unsettled midfielder over the summer, but fresh talk of a January exit is beginning to grow and Barcelona continue to be strongly linked with the Frenchman.

Mourinho told Sky Sports: “The only truth is that I made the decision of Paul not to be the second captain any more, but no fall-out, no problems at all.

“No fall-out at all, no problems at all, just one decision that I don’t have to explain.”