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For all the misgivings about Andreas Pereira's inclusion against Chelsea the pay-off was Nemanja Matic stayed on the bench.

Sunday's leaked team was an inaccurate one; Matic was included in a midfield trident with Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay. When the rights holders gathered in the Old Trafford tunnel for confirmation at quarter-past three, Pereira was in and Matic out.

There was no justification for starting United's poorest pre-season performer and the longer United's friendly schedule went on the more Matic played his way out of the opening weekend XI. The absence of Pogba from the line-ups in Oslo and Cardiff exposed Matic's lateral and risk-aversive approach and he was culpable for AC Milan's equaliser.

Matic, who turned 31 at the start of the month, has regressed. His stellar performances in the first two months of Solskjaer's caretaker reign were a more reliable gauge of the Norwegian's impact than Pogba's form, yet Matic's United career amounts to roughly six months of fine form.

He was strikingly fleet of foot at the start, quelling the Fabinho-obsessive naysayers, until injury at Watford in late November of 2017. A troublesome abdominal injury hampered Matic throughout 2018 and a hamstring strain in February halted his galvanised run.

United are so averse to releasing players they extended Matteo Darmian's contract but Matic, technically into the last year of his contract, could feasibly be released at the campaign's conclusion.

United do not have a surfeit of central midfielders but Solskjaer is in the midst of phasing out the physical figureheads Jose Mourinho relied on. Chris Smalling was unused in half of the pre-season games and was in his hospitality box against Chelsea.

Matic questioned the lack of leaders in the squad after the Everton embarrassment and in Singapore claimed United had 'quality but no experience'. Solskjaer name checked Matic with Ashley Young and Juan Mata as the 30-somethings to guide a youthful squad. Young, 34, could also be let go at the end of his ninth season.

Solskjaer invited Fred to usurp Matic back in March, selecting him ahead of the Serb in the Premier League defeat at Wolves, where Fred was dispossessed and Diogo Jota equalised to end United's dominance. Fred's silly scheduling of his July wedding has relegated him to fifth-choice midfielder for now but he is more nimble and forward-thinking than Matic. And more aligned with Solskjaer's playing criteria.

"He lost it a couple of time but doesn't matter, get on the ball and play," Solskjaer said of Pogba on Sunday. That applies to the midfield underlings, too.

Having failed to recruit a new midfielder, the overhaul of that department is on hold for now. Come next year, United have to be prepared for two more departures - Matic and Pogba. The Frenchman has entered the last two years of his deal and the plus-one option does not dilute Pogba's power. If United are to obtain nine figures for their World Cup winner it has to be next year.

Pogba reminded his optimistic manager a 'question mark' remains over his future in the mixed zone after the dismantling of Chelsea. Idealistically, United would have to secure Champions League football and a worthy trophy to make Pogba consider a new contract. Realistically, Pogba has always had a hankering to move to Spain and would rather do so sooner rather than later. It is a Cristiano Ronaldo-lite dilemma.

There was a case for United to target two midfielders this summer - one attacking and one defensive - and next year they are essential. Solskjaer is used Pereira as a playmaker - where he did not convince - and McTominay is still undefined, despite impressing in the last six months.

James Garner has been separated from the United squad since they returned from Asia and responded with two goals in two games for the Under-23s. Solskjaer expects Garner, 18, to develop into a 'top player' and his representatives rate the Scouser so highly they dropped other United academy clients this year.

However much Sean Longstaff may thrive under Steve Bruce, another raw British midfielder is unsuitable. United and Manchester correspondents tired of the Bruno Fernandes guff but United require players of his international pedigree to ease the midfield transition.

Fernandes' agent was supposedly so out of his depth in fielding enquiries for his client that intermediaries went to the player directly to ascertain how much Sporting Lisbon were demanding for him. Buyer beware: Jorge Mendes has touched base with the promise of a transfer next year.

Garner has been promised playing time in the first-team and second-string football already appears beneath him. A full-time senior promotion is inevitable and surrounding him with more academy graduates and the possibility of established additions has the potential for Ed Woodward's desired blend of 'top academy graduates with world-class players'.

With or without Pogba.