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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Mark Critchley

Mino Raiola denies destabilising Manchester United with Paul Pogba transfer comments

Photograph: Getty Images

Mino Raiola has denied destabilising Manchester United by claiming that Paul Pogba wishes to leave Old Trafford in the summer.

Super-agent Raiola said that his client was "unhappy" at United in December and that the best solution for both Pogba and the club was to part ways at the next possible opportunity.

Pogba's United contract is set to expire at the end of next season, at which point he will be able to leave the club as a free agent.

Read more: Daniel James brings new dimension to Manchester United after ‘losing his way’

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was unhappy with Raiola's remarks and said that as soon as Pogba's agent "realises it is a team sport, the better".

Raiola, however, does not believe that his comments could have had any affect at United and pointed to their impressive form around Christmas as evidence.

"I just expressed an opinion," he told BBC Sport. "I didn't want to cause a problem and the opinion I expressed was a very very simple one."

"I don't think I destabilised anyone at the end because they [United] had a fantastic run and were even first [in the Premier League] for a period.

"Do big players like Paul and Solskjaer, who has won big things in his life, really get destabilised by what Mino Raiola says? Wow. If I really had this power then FIFA wouldn't exist anymore, that's for sure."

Despite being the representative of some of world football’s biggest names, Raiola also denied that he holds sway within club structures.

"I don't have power and influence within clubs,” he said. “The only influence I have is with my players.

"I just try to get the best deal done for the player. That's my job. To provide him with a service that's extended from happiness to a whole range of other things.

"I don't think that I'm powerful. And I don't think that I'm influential at all."

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