Jose Mourinho has a habit of dividing the dressing room at every club he goes to.
And the Manchester United squad he currently oversees certainly sounds nowhere near united in recent weeks.
Mourinho’s well-publicised rift with Paul Pogba has caused a split in the club’s dressing room and while several players have sided with the midfielder, Mourinho does have the backing of some.
The Mirror have laid out the support that Mourinho and Pogba have; with the likes of Anthony Martial, Andreas Pereira and Eric Bailly all part of the anti-Mourinho brigade at Old Trafford.
However five players are reported to be on Mourinho’s side of the conflict, which has been months in the making.
Ashley Young and Nemanja Matic are two senior players who are said to believe that Mourinho is right to demand the best of his players while Marouane Fellaini and Alexis Sanchez, as well as club captain Antonio Valencia, are also understood to be siding with their manager.
Centre-forward Romelu Lukaku, who has been one of Pogba’s closest friends at Old Trafford, has apparently distanced himself ever so slightly from the club’s record signing as Lukaku has taken great pride in the responsibility handed to him by Mourinho this season.
Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola is expected to hold talks with United officials in November, when the possibility of a January move for the France international will be discussed.
The relationship between Pogba and his manager is at an all-time low after the midfielder was stripped of the vice-captaincy earlier this week without an explanation from Mourinho.
A tense training ground exchange was filmed the following morning, with Mourinho reportedly unhappy about Pogba’s social media activity during United’s Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Derby County, a game for which the 25-year-old was left out of the matchday squad.
