Ralf Rangnick insists Paul Pogba will be highly motivated to play for Manchester United again ‘even if it’s only to show enough for a new contract elsewhere’. Pogba, 28, is out of contract in June and is widely expected to leave United on a free 10 years on from running down his first contract with the club in 2012. The interim United manager erred by claiming Nemanja Matic’s contract expires in the summer when the Serb is tied to United until 2023.
Ralf Rangnick said: “Yes of course (it is worth playing Pogba). I also played Nemanja Matic in the last games and his contract is also expiring. By the way, my contract as a manager is also expiring in the summer,” Rangnick said. For us, we have the same goal. We have the same ambition to be as successful as we can possibly be in the next three or four months. For me it’s not a question 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 now after two and half months of injury, fully fit again now? And he also wants to show up, he wants to show the fans of Manchester United, the board, the whole world what kind of player he can be and 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? But as I said, there is a difference of how players deal with their current situation. 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.”
