Manchester United are under pressure from one of their major sponsors, Adidas, over the proposed sale of Paul Pogba.
The club signed a major £750 million ten-year deal with the German sportswear firm in the summer of 2015 designed to help promote their famous brand in key markets such as Asia, as well as Europe and North America. However, Adidas are concerned that, if Pogba is sold this summer to either Real Madrid or back to Juventus, there will be nobody of similar stature left at United to help drive the brand, and appear front and centre in their advertising campaigns.
United will not want to lose one of their most important sponsors, so that means that vice-chairman Ed Woodward has an important decision to make. Keep Pogba, even though the player, and perhaps his manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, wants him to leave, or sign an equivalent marquee player to replace him.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.