Earlier this season, everyone was singing the praises of Paul Pogba.

The Frenchman, who arrived from Juventus for a then-world-record fee of £89 million, was producing world-class performances as Jose Mourinho’s side looked to challenge Manchester City for the title.

But things have changed in recent weeks.

The midfielder hasn’t completed 90 minutes since January 20, having been hauled off in United’s previous two matches against Tottenham and Newcastle.

Last weekend, he was brought off immediately after Matt Ritchie had put Newcastle 1-0 up having lost a header in the build-up to the goal. He was then seen crying on the bench.

After the match, Jose Mourinho was asked about his withdrawal and whether he was injured in which he replied: "No no no, nothing no, no problems.”

Since that loss, reports have suggested that Pogba now regrets moving to United and has demanded that Mourinho starts playing him on the left of a midfield three.

Whether or not there reports are true or not is unknown but one thing is for sure, things between Pogba and Mourinho don’t appear to going too smoothly right now.

WHY POGBA WAS RUBBISH VS NEWCASTLE

However, there might be an explanation for his poor performance against Rafa Benitez’s side.

According to Manchester Evening News, Pogba was actually ill during the match against Newcastle.

They write: “Paul Pogba was ill during Manchester United's Premier League defeat to Newcastle.

“Pogba ended his warm up early at St James' Park and came off following Matt Ritchie's 64th minute winner for Michael Carrick.

“M.E.N. Sport understands Pogba was actually unwell for the St James' Park fixture and his illness appeared to compromise his performance level in United's second successive away league loss.”

Ah, that might explain it.

M.E.N go on to state that Pogba has trained normally this week and is in contention to play against Huddersfield in the FA Cup on Saturday.

And if he’s recovered from his illness, expect Pogba to be back to his very best once again very soon.