The Frenchman has admitted that the Blancos are a “dream” for any player, but his current boss is expecting him to stick around at Old Trafford
Paul Pogba is “happy” at Manchester United and has a “big part” to play in the club’s future, says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, despite the France international seeing a possible switch to Real Madrid hinted at.
During the recent international break, the France international admitted that the Liga giants are “a dream for anyone”.
The 26-year-old also aired his admiration for current Blancos boss and fellow World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane, saying: “Like I’ve always said, Real Madrid is a dream for anyone. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“There is also Zidane as a coach and it’s a dream for anybody who likes football.
“For now, I’m at Manchester. We don’t know what the future holds. I’m at Manchester and I’m happy.”
Those kind words for a fellow countryman were reciprocated when Zidane said of links to an all-action midfielder: “I really like Pogba and you know that.
“I know him very well, he’s a different kind of player and he can provide many things because of his skills. He knows how to attack and defend.
“However, he’s not my player. He plays for United and we have to respect that. He’s always said that he likes Madrid.”
Such comments have sparked talk of an imminent move to Santiago Bernabeu for Pogba, but his current boss insists nobody at Old Trafford is planning to sanction the sale of a prized asset.
The Red Devils boss, who has helped to bring the best out of a player who struggled under Jose Mourinho early in the 2018-19 campaign, has said: “I don’t like to talk about other team’s players of course but this is another challenge with international breaks because players are available all the time and it’s a different environment, a general talk.
“Paul is a very nice and polite man who answered a general question on Zidane as an icon in France, a fantastic manager, he used to be a fantastic player and he’s just politely answered that question.
“But Paul’s happy here, he’s going to be a big, big part [of future plans].
“You like to build your team around him and that hasn’t changed at all.”
Solskjaer, who hinted at a possible change of role for Pogba following a sloppy display from United in a 2-1 win over Watford, has already stated that he intends to make an £89 million ($116m) performer an “influential” part of his plans.
A coach now tied to a three-year contract at Old Trafford has said: “We want Paul to be both on and off the ball a good player for us.
“We want him to be influential with the way we play. Sometimes that means up as an eight into the box, sometimes to control the game, drop down deeper.
“We haven’t really nailed down one way of playing. We’ve got three or four different ways of playing. That’s the beauty of Paul – that he can do both.”
