RALF RANGNICK believes we are about to see the best of Paul Pogba — because he wants to shine in the shop window.
The Manchester United star returned to full training this week for the first time since picking up a thigh injury while on France duty in early November.
All negotiations over a new deal at Old Trafford have been shelved and the club are happy to let their £89million record signing leave for free.
Boss Rangnick, whose team face Brentford on Wednesday evening, said: “He wants to show the fans of Manchester United, the board, the whole world what kind of player he can be.
“Even if it’s only to show enough for a new contract elsewhere, he will be highly motivated to do that and why should I then not play him?
“He had his first day of training with the whole group and he showed what an extraordinary player he could be.
“He won’t be available for the two games this week but after the international break against Middlesbrough and Burnley he could be.
“For me it’s not a question of if a player has an expiring contract, the question is how much does he still want to be a part of this group, how much does he still feel emotionally and physically on board?
“As long as this is the case, why shouldn’t Paul Pogba play now, after two and a half months of injury? He is fully fit again now and wants to show up.
“There is a difference of how players deal with their current situation.
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“How do they handle that? If they handle that in a professional way, an ambitious way, of course I will play players although they have a contract expiring in the summer.”
Pogba’s £290,000-a-week contract expires next summer and there is interest from French giants Paris Saint-Germain and his former club Juventus in Serie A to take him at the end of the season.
United are set to take a massive hit on the mega £89m fee they paid Juve for World Cup winner Pogba, 28, back in 2016.
But the club are not bothered about offering a massive new contract to a player who has delivered so little on the pitch during his time at the club.
Meanwhile, Rangnick is sticking to his claim that wantaway striker Anthony Martial refused to be involved with the United squad for the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa last Saturday.
The player denied it on social media.
But ahead of United’s trip to Brentford on Wednesday Rangnick said: “I said all that needs to be said about that after the game. I nominated him before the game and he was not part of the group. You can draw your own conclusions out of that.
“I had a conversation with him on Sunday about all this and for me, from my perspective, everything has been spoken about, everything has been resolved and there is no need to add anything on top of that.”
Martial did not train either on Sunday or Monday despite there being no suggestion of an injury.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford are both in contention to return at Brentford after missing out against Villa through injuries.
Rangnick added: “I think they could both be available.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk