Paul Pogba confirms plans to seek contract talks with Man United

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Sheffield United - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - January 27, 2021 Manchester United's Paul Pogba [Pool via REUTERS/Laurence Griffiths]

Paul Pogba has confirmed he is planning to hold talks with the Manchester United board over his contract.

The French midfielder's future has been the subject of debate after his agent, Mino Raiola, claimed last month that he was "unhappy" at Old Trafford.

Since then Pogba has produced some of his best form in a United shirt and looks happier in his surroundings.

Nevertheless, his contract is due to expire at the end of next season, meaning United will need to make a decision on his future this summer or risk losing him for nothing.

But Pogba insists he is prepared to sit down for a discussion over his United future.

Asked by Rio Ferdinand during an interview with BT Sport whether he planned to stay at United, Pogba replied: "I’ve a contract, I’m here, I’m enjoying myself, everybody knows that I have one year left so I’m going to speak to the club to see what’s going on.

"Now my objective, my goal is to win something that’s all I’m thinking about is to win, bring my energy, do the best I can to help the team the most.

"That's all I'm thinking of. The contract is not important, just to win."

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Sheffield United - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - January 27, 2021 Manchester United's Paul Pogba in action with Sheffield United's John Fleck and Billy Sharp [Pool via REUTERS/Dave Thompson]

Pogba has never commented on Raiola's claims made at the start of December, where the agent stated the 28-year-old had "no intentions" of extending his United deal.

Raiola told Tuttosport at the time: "Paul is unhappy. He is no longer able to express himself as he would like and as expected of him.

"He has to change teams; he has to change the air."

United have been on a superb run in the meantime, and are now well-placed to mount a serious title challenge over the back half of the season.

Given the financial restraints encompassing one of Pogba's two most-likely suitors Real Madrid, it is unlikely they will be in any position to launch a bid for him this summer.

While the downturn in form of the other main contenders for his signature, Juventus, may well have forced Pogba into a re-think.

United will not want to allow Pogba to enter the final 12 months of his contract without a deal in place, and it is safe to assume they will look to tie him down to the club for the long term.

Discussing Pogba's future to ESPN , United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said earlier this month: "Paul has been here now for a while and, of course, he wants to win more trophies.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Burnley v Manchester United - Turf Moor, Burnley, Britain - January 12, 2021 Manchester United's Paul Pogba celebrates scoring their first goal [Pool via REUTERS/Clive Brunskill]

"He's got a very, very good attitude to training and playing football.

"He loves football, he's ambitious, he wants to have success - like most of the others that are in the squad."

That is now Pogba's short-term goal, and whether United collect any silverware this season could prove to be a deciding factor in whether he stays put.

Pogba added: "From last year and this year I would say it’s surprising [United's progress] but we were expecting to get closer, that's the goal, the challenge to get to the top.

"Liverpool, Man City, they’ve been winning and I don’t want to say we’re there yet, because they’ve been winning trophies and we haven’t so we’re still behind.

"We didn’t win anything so we have to keep putting in the work, improving, we’ve been doing well and in six months we want to say the same thing, 'Man Utd have been doing great this season, best team in the league', that’s what we want to hear.

"We don’t want to hear: 'oh they’ve been playing well but they didn’t win anything', so we have to keep working because we've done nothing yet.

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