Man Utd can’t afford to lose irreplaceable Pogba but must offload flops Sanchez, Darmian and Rojo

UNITED should do all they can to offload Sanchez, Darmian and Rojo, but the club must keep an unhappy Pogba.

For clubs in Spain, Germany and France, the transfer window doesn’t shut until August the 31st , which means there’s still time for United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to get one or two players out of the door.

One United can’t afford to lose though, is Paul Pogba.

Pogba is in a position of great power. United should have sold the wantaway midfielder earlier in the summer and signed at least two replacements, but it hasn’t happened.

It means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in a fragile position, because if Pogba picks up an injury or loses form, Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Nemanja Matic and Fred, do not possess the same level of vision and creativity from central areas.

To add to this, what hasn’t helped Pogba and Solskjaer has been the loss of Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini. The pair departed earlier this year, but they haven’t been replaced, and at least one reinforcement should have been signed to cover for their loss too – a debate for another day.

We saw in the opening 4-0 Premier League win against Chelsea, just what Pogba brings. Careless in possession in the first half, he was caught out numerous times trying extra stepovers and pieces of skill in positions where it wasn’t required.

But here’s where the frustration comes in for United supporters, because while he was wasteful in that opening period, in the second half he did provide the games outstanding moment, with a sublime pass to Marcus Rashford for United’s third goal.

There’s still talk of Real Madrid bidding for the him before the end of this window, but there’s no way Ed Woodward will allow him to leave. It would destroy any hope United might have of finishing fourth.

In defence, Harry Maguire’s arrival means that Solskjaer has seven central defenders to choose from, and if reports over the weekend are true, Marcos Rojo is the favourite to leave.

The Argentine has two years left to run on his £130k-a-week contract, and even with Eric Bailly out injured, he finds himself behind Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling, Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones in the queue to partner the £85m man.

Matteo Darmian is another defender who should have left in not last summer, then certainly this.

Fans would be forgiven if they’d forgotten about him, yet remarkably, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot ahead of him in the pecking order, it looks like he’s prepared to accept another season as a squad player.

The big name United should be trying to move on, is Alexis Sanchez. Like so many superstars before him, it simply hasn’t worked out for the Chilean at Old Trafford.

His astronomical wages have been well documented, but his inclusion in the matchday squad could stall one of the exciting youngsters’ path to the first team.

Solskjaer was happy to push through Romelu Lukaku’s departure to free up a spot for teenage sensation Mason Greenwood.

With the likes of Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong battling for a place in one of the wide forward positions, it might be in everyone’s best interests if Sanchez follows the same path as Lukaku before the end of the month.