Morrison and Pogba Futures Hang in the Balance

According to the Daily Express, the futures of two of Manchester United's brightest young stars Ravel Morrison and Paul Pogba are looking increasingly fragile amid mounting interest from their bitter Premier League rivals Manchester City.

The prodigiously gifted duo are two of Manchester United's most talked about starlets for a generation and yet the aforementioned source suggests both are out of contract at the end of the season.

Sir Alex Ferguson has regularly stated his desire to retain the pair but not at the cost of Manchester United's stringent wage structure in regards to their young and relatively untested players.

The Manchester United manager recently claimed Pogba's agent was proving a nuisance in regards to their efforts to keep the 18-year-old Frenchman at Old Trafford.

"He [Pogba] has got an agent who's obviously become a bit difficult, but we're negotiating with this agent and we want the boy to stay," The Manchester United boss told the Daily Telegraph recently. "If he doesn't want to stay, then there's not a lot you can do about it."

Morrison is an altogether different case for Manchester United. The attacking midfielder, who has been championed as Old Trafford's finest young talent since the emergence of Paul Scholes, has been plagued by a host of alarming and well-documented off-field indiscretions which has threatened his fledgling career.

Manchester United are reluctant to reward Morrison with a new deal at this juncture given his fragile standing away from football and there is a suggestion Ferguson is keen to make the youngster work hard for the inevitable rewards on offer.

While Manchester United's intention to keep their precocious young pair is palpable, the Daily Express claim Manchester City are monitoring proceedings ahead of a possible raid on their Premier League counterparts.