Manchester United are set to fine midfielder Paul Pogba, following the Frenchman’s social media post in the aftermath of Jose Mourinho’s sacking on Tuesday morning.
Pogba posted a picture of himself smirking on Instagram, telling his followers to “caption this”, before the picture was quickly deleted minutes later, likely following orders from his employers to do so.
It’s since been claimed by Pogba’s and Manchester United’s sponsor Adidas that the post was scheduled as part of a marketing campaign - something few people are choosing to believe.
An official statement from the German sports brand read: "Pogba's social media posts were a scheduled event, part of a marketing campaign.
"[It was] immediately taken down once it became apparent that it could be misconstrued as disrespectful to Manchester United and Jose Mourinho."
It drew an angry response from former United defender Gary Neville, who responded to Pogba’s Instagram post on Twitter, saying: "You do one as well!".
Neville didn’t buy the excuse for his post, adding: "It's not a personal thing, but Paul Pogba there's no doubt has fallen out with the manager - doesn't believe in him, doesn't like him, doesn't think he's a good coach probably.
"So there's been a complete breakdown probably in the last 12 months and there's no doubt there's a high level of dislike there.
"However, Jose Mourinho lost his job this morning, and Paul Pogba and his people put that Instagram post out.
"I don't fall for this coincidence, scheduled tweet nonsense, it's garbage, absolute garbage."
Pogba’s relationship with Mourinho has been strained for months, with the latter stripping the French midfielder of the club’s vice-captaincy back in September and dropped him from the starting XI for his final Premier League games. Pogba was an unused substitute at Anfield on Sunday during United’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has now taken charge on a temporary basis at Old Trafford, with the change of managers set to delight the vast majority of players in the dressing room. A recent report says 90% of first team players at United had lost faith in Mourinho and Pogba is certainly one of them.
