Manchester United star Paul Pogba’s relationship with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reportedly hit rocky terrain, with the player now seeking a transfer.

As per a report from French newspaper Le Parisien, carried by Spanish publication AS, Manchester United superstar Paul Pogba has opened the door for a summer switch to Real Madrid, after his relationship with Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has ‘worn out’.

Pogba, since completing a club record transfer to Manchester United from Juventus in 2016, has been highly inconsistent. The World Cup winning midfielder struggled to live up to the expectations that came up with the £89 million price-tag under former manager Jose Mourinho, with the duo falling out with each other.

Things, however, looked on the up and up when Manchester United sacked Mourinho in December last year, and brought in former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the manager. The Norwegian had worked with Pogba during the Frenchman’s time with the Manchester United youth teams and had made his desire of building the team around the midfielder known.

It looked like the perfect marriage early into Solskjaer’s tenure as Manchester United looked in unstoppable form, with Pogba at the heart of the Red Devils’ revival. The 26-year-old has scored 9 goals and set up 7 more in 19 matches under the Norwegian, but he hasn’t been directly involved in a goal since the game against Crystal Palace in February.

During the international break in March, Pogba revealed in a press conference that he always dreamt of playing for Real Madrid, sparking fresh transfer speculations linking him with a switch to the Spanish capital club. Since then, the midfielder’s form has been on a downward spiral, as he has put in a series of ineffective displays, which has coincided with a poor run of results for Manchester United.

A run of four defeats in five matches across all competitions has seen Manchester United crash out of the FA Cup, take a big dent in their hopes of a top four finish in the Premier League and face an uphill task of beating Barcelona in the second leg of their Last Eight tie in the Champions League to go through to the next round.

Trouble in Paradise? (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Trouble in Paradise? (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

With qualification for the next season’s Champions League in jeopardy now, Pogba, as per the report, has decided the time is right for him to move on. Moreover, his relationship with Solskjaer is also not the same as it used to be, which has only made him more determined to consider a switch, Le Parisien (h/t AS) adds.

This comes in contrast with the player’s recent comments backing Solskjaer’s appointment as the permanent manager of Manchester United. Recent reports had also claimed the 26-year-old would be willing to stay at United provided they offer him a new contract worth £500,000-a-week.

Pogba, despite all his flaws, is a gifted player and showed what he can do in the early parts of Solskjaer’s tenure. But, for him to achieve greatness, he needs to do it consistently, which has been the problem for him at Manchester United. With Real Madrid believed to be keen on snappng him up in the summer, it will be interesting to see how this story develops in the coming months.

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