sport news Paul Pogba is the poster boy of Manchester United's grim decline as he prepares ... trends now
Think of the overspending and under-achievement at Manchester United in the last decade - the fantasy, the folly and the systemic failure - and it's hard to come up with a better symbol than Paul Pogba.
Pogba is the personification of what has gone wrong at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, even though it would be grossly unfair to put all of United's problems at his feet.
Alexis Sanchez ran him close. Then there were other big-name flops like Angel Di Maria, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Radamel Falcao. But when we look back and judge this painful period in United's history, Pogba will be the one who best sums up how it all went wrong.
Paul Pogba will leave Manchester United this summer with his contract up for expiry
Pogba helped United win the Europa League in his first season with the club - 2016-17 - but success dried up thereafter, leaving fans with questions of why he failed to maximise his talent
Ferguson was prepared, albeit reluctantly, to let Pogba leave for next to nothing rather than bow to the demands of the young Frenchman and his agent, the late Mino Raiola.
The new United hierarchy took a different view, taking pride in the fact they broke the world record to re-sign Pogba from Juventus in a deal that also earned Raiola £40million.
It was trumpeted by a social media campaign with the hashtag #pogback and a video posted by the player's sponsor adidas with a soundtrack by rapper Stormzy - the kind of things Ferguson would have detested.
Fast forward six years and the announcement on Wednesday of Pogba's departure as a free agent at the end of the month was rather more muted.
Pogba was the world's most expensive footballer when he returned to United in summer 2016
His final days at United saw him jeered by supporters and he personifies United's grim decline
'Once a red, always a red,' was the message from United even though, in Pogba's case, that feels rather hollow.
Pogba replied: 'I feel privileged to have played for this club. Many beautiful moments
