Man United legend tells Paul Pogba needs to ditch the haircuts to reach Kevin De Bruyne level

Paul Parker has urges Man United record signing Paul Pogba to ditch the haircuts to reach Kevin De Bruyne's level

Man United midfielder Paul Pogba Photo: The Sport Review

Paul Parker has warned Manchester United star Paul Pogba that he will need to ditch the haircuts to reach Kevin De Bruyne’s level.

The Red Devils signed Pogba in a then world record £89m deal from Serie A giants Juventus in the 2016 summer transfer window.

Pogba won the Europa League and the League Cup in his first season back at Manchester United to make steady progress.

While the versatile midfielder scored two goals and made two assists in his opening four league games, injury curtailed his strong start.

Pogba hasn’t been able to recapture his early season form since his return to the Manchester United team.

Indeed, the 25-year-old has even been dropped from Jose Mourinho’s starting line up following his ineffective performances.

De Bruyne, on the other hand, has scored seven goals and has made 15 assists in 31 games in the Premier League this term.

Former Manchester United defender Parker is critical of the theatrics surrounding Pogba, urging the club record signing to ditch the haircuts.

“Can Pogba become the player he wants to be?” Parker speaking exclusively to 888sport.

“He can but his priority has got to be his football – that should stick out more than his hair. It’s fine to have all the haircuts and emojis and whatever but to earn all that go and do your talking on the pitch week in, week out. Everybody knows he can do it because everybody saw him at Juventus. He was fantastic in that style of play and the players around him helped him.

“So he needs help and his first priority when he’s asked what he wants to be and replies that he wants to be the best player in this team is to say ‘well forget your hairdresser for a while’. Just go out there and become a player first then you can do what you want with your hair because people won’t notice anyway because they’ll only see the player.”

Parker added: “De Bruyne won’t do anything with his hair and he doesn’t have an emoji: he’s playing football and when you talk about the best five players in the world you’ll mention Messi, Ronaldo, Salah and De Bruyne will be in there.

“When you mention Pogba people will have a little bit of a laugh then talk about his hair and the problems he has with Mourinho. That’s not really what he should be known for when you cost £89m.”

Pogba got on the score sheet in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Dutch giants Ajax in the Europa League final last term.

The France star has scored three goals and has made 11 assists in the Premier League so far this season.

Read the full 888sport interview with Paul Parker, including his thoughts on Mourinho’s tactics in charge of Manchester United

MORE: Latest Manchester United news and views

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