Jose Mourinho sends direct message to Man United record signing Paul Pogba
The Manchester United manager has some words of advice for World Cup star Paul Pogba
Jose Mourinho has warned Paul Pogba that it is up to the Manchester United record signing to perform.
The Red Devils have face speculation surrounding their star player in the summer transfer window following a difficult Premier League campaign.
Manchester United manager Mourinho was critical of Pogba’s performances throughout the 2017-18 season as Pogba struggled as part of a midfield pair alongside Nemanja Matic.
The 25-year-old has been linked with a potential switch to Champions League holders Real Madrid and his former club Juventus before the close of the summer transfer window.
Pogba was a key of France’s team that won the World Cup this summer and the versatile midfielder got on the score sheet in a 4-2 win over Croatia.
Mourinho sent a direct message to Pogba about performing in the new Premier League campaign.
“I don’t think it’s about us getting the best out of him, it’s about him giving the best he has to give,” Mourinho told ESPN.
“I think the World Cup is the perfect habitat for a player like him to give [their] best.
“Why? Because it’s closed for a month, where he can only think about football. Where he’s with his team on the training camp, completely isolated from the external world, where they focus just on football, where the dimensions of the game can only motivate.
“During a season, you can have a big match then a smaller match, then one even smaller, then you can lose your focus, you can lose your concentration, then comes a big match again.
“In the World Cup, the direction of the emotion, of the responsibility, of the big decisions is always growing up.
“You are in the group phase, you go to the last 16, to the quarterfinals, to the semifinals, to the finals.
“This feeds the motivation. This feeds the concentration of a player. So I think it was the perfect environment for him.”
Manchester United signed Pogba in a club record £89m deal from Serie A champions Juventus in the 2016 summer transfer window.
Sir Alex Ferguson sold the French midfielder to Juventus in an £800,000 deal in 2012 after Manchester United couldn’t guarantee regular first-team football.
The Red Devils have signed Brazilian midfielder Fred, FC Porto defender Diogo Dalot and Stoke City goalkeeper Lee Grant this summer.
