Manchester United have already signed the perfect profile of transfer target

Actions speak louder than words and Manchester United dedicating a longer eulogy to Paul Pogba than Juan Mata is endemic of a club whose commercialism still overwhelms the football.

Mata's ran to 629 words and Pogba's 840. The unctuous send-off to an indolent talent jarred with the matchgoers' mood, one of celebration at Pogba's departure. Three season-ticket holders in the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand posted identical tweets upon the news.

Pogba is the first footballer to receive a Twitter emoji and the sentiment graphs will flag his popularity. Mata? He is a 34-year-old whose only Premier League starts last season were in May.

READ MORE: United wanted to keep Mata for off-field role

United ought to have consulted Richard Arnold on how divorced social media is from reality. Arnold bragged on the February 2020 investors' call Odion Ighalo was the top worldwide trend on Twitter when he signed for United, as if signing a 31-year-old from Shanghai Shenhua had generated universal approval.

Pogba was last seen at Old Trafford cupping his ear to supporters who repeatedly requested he "f--k off". Injured, he eschewed the lap of honour after the final home game against Brentford when a repeat of the heated scenes against Cardiff three years earlier were likely.

If United are to reconnect with supporters they have to have core tenets. During his eight-and-a-half years in red, Mata was completely invested in, and committed to, playing for United. Nobody could seriously say that about Pogba after he was offered to Manchester City in January 2018.

Mata had to convince Louis van Gaal in a top-heavy attack bolstered by Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao. The best football United played under the Dutchman coincided with Mata's recall in