Bruno Fernandes might have given Paul Pogba what he wants at Manchester United

Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes are training together for Man Utd and it might be a new experience for the World Cup winner.

Pictures of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba training next to each other at Carrington on Tuesday moved the prospect of them playing in the same Manchester United midfield a step closer.

Fernandes and Pogba trained as the Premier League's Project Restart edged closer too, with the return of the top flight next month now seemingly having unstoppable momentum.

When United resume action Pogba will be fit for the first time since December and while he might need easing back into action, it won't be long before he and Fernandes are playing alongside each other.

Yet since January the idea of a Manchester United without Pogba has grown in credibility, mostly because that's exactly the scenario Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had to deal with.

While the first month of 2020 continued United's unpredictable and inconsistent season to date, since the start of February they've put together the best run of form of the season, all without Pogba, and all with Fernandes.

The £47million signing from Sporting Lisbon has become Solskjaer's most important player in a matter of weeks. The Portuguese playmaker is pulling the strings in a United side that has been unbeaten for 11 games, playing with a confidence and style not seen for a long time.

For Pogba this season has been a write-off so far. There have been only eight appearances, a string of frustrating injuries and now no appearance since Boxing Day. A player with his profile will never be the forgotten man, but there's been a sense United had moved on on the pitch, not that Solskjaer would admit that just yet.

Planning for life after Pogba has been something in the back of everyone's mind since his attempts to leave Old Trafford were blocked last summer. That transfer safa began with the World Cup winner saying "it could be a good time for a new challenge" and continued with his agent, Mino Raiola, also going public on his and Pogba's desire for a move.

That never materialised and the 27-year-old was exemplary in pre-season, to give him credit. Any hopes this season might be a final farewell, a season in which he raised his game before leaving with gratitude, have been dashed by injury, however.

Raiola has also made sure that goodwill remains in short supply, rarely missing a microphone and a chance to bring Pogba's future back into the public domain, whether it be his hopes of returning to Juventus, the attraction of Real Madrid, or more general attacks on United and Solskjaer.

As United's midfield floundered until February, lacking goals and creativity, the absence of Pogba was keenly felt. Yet one swish of a pen on a £47million cheque has solved those issues. Fernandes has become United's playmaker, their midfield fulcrum and one of their on-pitch leaders. He's everything the club hoped Pogba would be when he returned from Juventus for £89million in 2016.

So far the Frenchman has failed to live up to that price tag. His desire for a move and a new challenge may revolve around United's failure to challenge for titles and consistently make the Champions League during his time at the club, but he's as much to blame as anyone for that.

Now Pogba faces the prospect of returning to the team but no longer being United's most important player or even their best player. If Pogba and Fernandes play in the same midfield then, on the evidence of the latter's impact to date, it's Fernandes who you would expect to play further forward and be the man relied on to create a spark.

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How that change in stature affects Pogba over the remaining nine Premier League and - hopefully - the FA Cup and Europa League, will be fascinating. It may just be that Fernandes has given him the challenge he wants.

Not only has the Portuguese's signing accelerated United's path back towards the Champions League and, potentially, to a title challenge, but he has taken Pogba's mantle at Old Trafford. Fernandes has been the player demanding more from his teammates during games, urging them to raise their level. He's looked like the world-class player that can drive United forward, when everyone expected that would be Pogba's role.

Pogba might see that as a personal challenge and could return determined to prove a point, to show everyone that he is the alpha-male of this midfield. If it gets the best out of him then that would be no bad thing.

But the arrival of Fernandes might also have convinced Pogba that United are back on the right track. His preference might still be to leave Old Trafford but doors are closing quicker than in the Crystal Maze. The first post-coronavirus transfer window is unlikely to see moves involving the kind of money United would want for Pogba, giving they spent £89million on him just four years ago.

It might not quite be the new challenge that Pogba had in mind, but the arrival of Fernandes and internal competition he's created could be a good alternative.