Red Devils accept Pogba exit

Manchester United will sell Paul Pogba in the summer after accepting that the Frenchman will not be signing a new contract.

Pogba, 27, has enjoyed a spectacular return to form since his agent Mino Raiola confirmed again last months that the £89million midfielder wants to leave Old Trafford.

United triggered a one-year contract extension that ties him to the club until the summer of 2022 in October.

But while manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been delighted with Pogba’s attitude and application as his team have stormed up to second place in the Premier League, there is now an acceptance at the club that they must sell him at the end of the season to recoup some of the cash they handed to Juventus to bring him back to Manchester in 2016.

Bruno Fernandes has emerged as United’s top performer over the last year.

And the Portuguese said after the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Friday night that he believes Solskjaer is on the brink of building something special.

But Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris St Germain are all interested in Pogba.

And United are hoping that a bidding war will push up the fee they will bank.

United have won eight of their last 10 Premier League games and now face rivals Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

Fernandes said: “I think Paul was top. But we all know the qualities he has. I think it is not in doubt.

“I hope people are not in doubt on the qualities of Paul because we know he can play, he can help us and he can play really well.

“I think we are building something important. “The most important for us is building a team, building a group of players who take care of each other.

“As I sit in the stands in the last two or three minutes, everyone is shouting and hoping to don’t concede a goal and to take care of the ball.

“Everyone wanted the three points, everyone wanted that win and this is what it is all about.

“Now we have to build on this more and more.”