Manchester United's failure to convince Paul Pogba to commit his future to the club has made them look amateurish, according to former Red Devils star Paul Parker.
The 25-year-old's tetchy relationship with Jose Mourinho does not appear to be improving. When asked about speculation linking him with Barcelona, Pogba said: "I'm playing at United at the moment, but who knows what will happen in the next few months."
Pogba may force his way out of Old Trafford next summer and Parker believes players have far too much power over their clubs in the modern game.
"What's coming out of Manchester United PR-wise is something you expect from a club five or six levels below – it's not top-level PR," Parker told talkSPORT.
"Sometimes you can't give the devil what he wants and if that's what he's looking for, if he's trying to dictate and control, you don't give it.
"Footballers in today's game are commodities and a group of them together speak louder than any one manager.
"It wouldn't have happened 20 years ago, because players were there just to play football and we knew where we stood.
"If we shouted too loud, we were lucky if we were only shouted down, but at the worst we'd lose our jobs.
"But today, players don't lose their jobs."