When Paul Pogba makes his decision over his future in the next few months he knows he will have a guarantee of trophies waiting for him.
If silverware is all that matters then Pogba can take the millions on offer from Paris St-Germain to head back to the French capital when his Manchester United contract expires next summer. There is no greater certainty in the game than PSG winning domestic trophies right now.
Maybe Real Madrid will be interested in the free agent as well. La Liga might be more competitive, but if Real strengthen well they can make it a monopoly again given Barcelona's catastrophic financial state.
Pogba might see the attraction of playing with Lionel Messi in Paris, or representing Real Madrid. A lot of footballers grow up dreaming of playing for Real, although at the moment this is the Madrid of nobody's dreams.
Both those clubs could swell Pogba's trophy cabinet, but silverware might be the silver lining. PSG are in a one-horse race and this isn't a vintage Real Madrid. All four of the English participants in the Champions League are considered more likely to lift the trophy in Saint Peterburg in May than Real, yet expectations remain excessive at the Bernabeu.
Pogba could be a winner with both of those clubs, but he would be a hero? Because that is what awaits the United players who finally return the club to the top table.
This is United's ninth attempt to win the league since Sir Alex Ferguson retired and while this squad is certainly capable of becoming champions, the competition is immense given the quality at Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Maybe it's the quantity of medals that matters, but winning one Premier League for United would surely be a greater feeling than winning half-a-dozen routine Ligue 1 titles with PSG. Quality would usurp quantity there.
United have grown in confidence that Pogba might be convinced to extend his contract, having been impressed with a summer transfer window that saw Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo arrive.
Solskjaer knows the best chance to keep the 28-year-old is to win trophies, but he touched upon how special it is to win trophies at United and to hear the adulation of 75,000 fans.
"It's up to us now to get results and to prove to ourselves we can win trophies," Solskjaer said. "Everyone who signs for Man United wants to win trophies. To be a part of a winning Man United, it's the most magical feeling in the world."
Pogba hasn't experienced that enough. He's now 204 games into his second spell at United but has just the League Cup and Europa League in 2017 to show for it. You can understand his frustration, it's a paltry return for a world-class player.
The World Cup winner has been an easy target of frustration for fans in recent years and until 2021 he hadn't done justice to his own quality at the club, but his feelings for United shouldn't be in question.
Pogba has a genuine affinity with a club that did so much for him as a youngster and even since opining for a new challenge in 2019 his attitude and professionalism have never been questioned.
Winning a major title for United would genuinely mean something to Pogba and the feeling is United are getting closer. This squad is packed with world-class talent and Pogba can look around the dressing room and see Varane, Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Sancho, Mason Greenwood and others and feel that trophies are within touching distance.
They won't be easy to win, however. Four of the first six in the betting for the Champions League are the four title favourites for the Premier League. It could be a fierce battle between United, City, Chelsea and Liverpool over the next few years. Coming out on top it won't be easy, but it will be hard-earned, which always makes it sweeter.
This is comfortably United's longest title drought since the 26 years ended by Sir Alex Ferguson. For the team that ends these lean years immortality awaits. That is surely worth sticking around for.
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