Ralf Rangnick: Search for move away from Manchester United will motivate Paul Pogba to find form

Paul Pogba’s desire to put himself in the shop window will ensure he is “highly motivated” to deliver for Manchester United over the remainder of the season, according to Ralf Rangnick.

The France midfielder is expected to leave United as a free agent at the end of the season when his £290,000 a week contract expires, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus among the clubs monitoring his situation.

Rangnick believes Pogba’s hopes of winning a lucrative new contract with another big club this summer should help to produce his best form for United in his final few months at Old Trafford as he nears a return after 11 weeks out through injury.

In an extraordinary admission, United’s interim manager said: “For me it’s not a question if a player has an expiring contract, the question is how much does he still want to be a part of this group, how much does he still feel emotionally and physically on board?

“As long as this is the case, why shouldn’t Paul Pogba [play] now after two and half months of injury, fully fit again now and he also wants to show up.

“He wants to show the fans of Manchester United, the board, the whole world what kind of player he can be and even if it’s only to show enough for a new contract elsewhere, he will be highly motivated to do that and why should I then not play him?

“There is a difference of how players deal with their current situation. How do they handle that? If they handle that in a professional way, an ambitious way, of course I will play players even though they have a contact expiring in the summer.”

Rangnick revealed that he spoke to Pogba for more than an hour after training on Monday - his first session for two and a half months - during which the midfielder pledged his full commitment until the end of the season.

“I had a long conversation with him for more than an hour after the training session, a very good conversation,” Rangnick said. “He committed himself until the end of the season. He explained to me that he wants to be the best possible Paul Pogba that he can be.”

Pogba expected to be back for FA Cup tie on Feb 4

Pogba, 28, has not played since early November after suffering a thigh problem on international duty with France - the latest in a long line of injury woes - but he returned to training this week. He will play no part against Brentford on Wednesday night or West Ham three days later but Rangnick said he hoped to have the midfielder back for the FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough on February 4 or Premier League fixture at Burnley four days later.

Pogba first left United on a free transfer in 2012, with Juventus having to pay just £800,000 in training compensation for the midfielder and, a decade on, he is again gearing up to leave for nothing six years.

The Frenchman rejoined United for a club record £89 million fee in 2016 but his six years have been marred by poor form, long injury absences, a spectacular fall-out with former manager Jose Mourinho and repeated attempts to leave.

Rangnick and Martial resolve differences after talks

Meanwhile, Rangnick said he had resolved his differences with another wantaway United and France player, Anthony Martial, despite appearing to stand by his claims that the striker refused to be in United’s squad against Aston Villa last Saturday. Martial refuted that accusation, leading to clear-the-air talks between the pair on Sunday.

Asked who was telling the truth, Rangnick said: “I said all that needs to be said about that after the game. I nominated him before the game and he was not part of the group. You can draw your own conclusions out of that. I had a conversation with him on Sunday about all this and, from my perspective, everything has been spoken about, everything has been resolved and no need to add anything on top of that.

“He didn’t train yesterday [Monday] and the day before yesterday. He will probably train today [Tuesday] and, after training, then I will take the decision if he is nominated [for the squad] or not. Let’s see what will happen then.”