Paul Pogba agent swipes at Paul Scholes

Paul Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, has added to the turmoil around Manchester United by attacking Paul Scholes and joking that the club’s former midfielder should be appointed sports director and advise Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, to sell the Frenchman.

Raiola’s intervention came after Scholes criticised Pogba’s performance in the defeat at Brighton and said there was “a lack of leaders in the team”. Pogba is the captain.

In two tweets on Tuesday morning Raiola responded: “Some people need to talk for fear of being forgotten. Paul Scholes wouldn’t recognize a leader if he was in front of Sir Winston Churchill. Paul Scholes should become sports director and advise Woodward to sell Pogba. Would be sleepless nights to find Pogba a new club.”

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Pogba is known to be unhappy at United and favours a move to Barcelona before the Spanish window closes at the end of August, so Raiola’s last comment may be a reference to this.

Gary Neville, a former team-mate of Scholes, attacked Woodward for failing to give José Mourinho carte blanche in the summer transfer window. Woodward refused to sign off the manager’s wish to purchase a top-class centre-back, with Leicester City’s Harry Maguire, Bayern Munich’s Jérôme Boateng or Atlético Madrid’s Diego Godín among the manager’s targets.

“He is in his third season and I think he will feel extremely disappointed that he wasn’t supported in the transfer market,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “You can’t leave a house three-quarters built. You have to finish it and complete the build. Then you can think about selling it or renting it because nobody is going to pick it up off you half-built.”