Revealed: The incredible cost of Pogba's absences to Man Utd
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 29 Oct 2021 11:41 BST
- 4 min read
With the debate over Paul Pogba’s contract renewal at Manchester United raging, attention should be turned to just how often he has been unavailable for the Old Trafford club.
Since re-signing at Man Utd from Juventus in 2016, Pogba has played less than 60% of the competitive minutes open to him and has not played any active role in 31.5% of fixtures.
Given the investment that the Red Devils made in the France star, these figures should trigger some worry over whether the midfielder, whose contract is up at the end of the season and could therefore leave on a free transfer, is worth a new deal.
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Pogba may have created seven goals for Man Utd this season but finding a position where he can be truly effective in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans is proving tricky. The manager, it must be said, is trying. Pogba has started all but four matches for Man Utd this season, one of which was a League Cup loss to West Ham.
However, in the two most testing matches of the season – home fixtures against fifth-placed Everton and second-placed Liverpool – Pogba was relegated to the bench on each occasion. When he came on against the Reds, of course, he was sent off, earning a ban in the process.
Injuries, though, have been Pogba’s biggest issue in recent times.
He missed much of the 2019/20 season because of recurring ankle issues and was then absent for a busy stretch of the 2020/21 campaign in the spring because of a hamstring problem.
Pogba's Man Utd appearances
| Season | Man Utd games | Pogba apps | % of games missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 13 | 12 | 7.7 |
| 2020/21 | 61 | 42 | 31.1 |
| 2019/20 | 61 | 22 | 64 |
| 2018/19 | 53 | 47 | 12.3 |
| 2017/18 | 56 | 37 | 33.9 |
| 2016/17 | 64 | 51 | 20.3 |
| Total | 308 | 211 | 31.5 |
Pogba on course to earn £30m from the sidelines
For Man Utd, this is a costly business.
Pogba earns an annual salary of £15 million. If he missed a third of Man Utd’s matches over the course of a season, which the figures show that he does, that equates to around £5m of wages on a pro-rata basis with no return.
Assuming this rate continues over the course of the next seven months, over the course of his six-year stay at Old Trafford, he will earn almost £30m from fixtures he has not played in.
There is the counter argument that if he is producing enough in the games he does feature in, does all this even matter? Ultimately, that is for Man Utd to decide but the figures are huge.
It is widely reported that Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola is chasing a significant pay rise for the midfielder, which would make him one of the top earners at the club.
Given Pogba’s track record of unavailability over the previous five years, during which he should have been in his physical prime, Man Utd surely have to take this into account as negotiations go on.
