POGBA
Jose Mourinho has admitted that Manchester United were not
expecting Paul Pogba to be 'unbelievable' from day one, despite splashing a
record £89million on the midfielder.
Pogba has failed to set the world
alight since arriving at Old Trafford but Mourinho expected it would take time for
the 23-year-old to adapt on his return to English football.
Mourinho insists his most expensive
player will improve over the next few years, and produce top-level football for
United for up to a decade, but he also hinted that the superstar could one day
be converted into a central defender.
'He has unbelievable potential, he
has years and years to develop his game, so the expectation and investment from
the club is exactly based on that,' Mourinho told Sky Sports.
'A super player for the next seven,
eight years, 10 years, and getting better and better at every level - that is
our expectation.
'We don't expect Paul to arrive here and the next day be
unbelievable. But the reality is that we trust him so much that I think we pass
to him this kind of feeling.
'He is a very self confident boy
too. So we are living well with the critics, if you want. And you know what the
critics say.'
The Manchester United manager also
played down concerns that his tactical systems are failing to get the best out
of Pogba, claiming instead that his poor performances are a natural process of
adapting to the Premier League.
Mourinho claimed that Pogba can play
almost any position, or in any system, even saying he would make 'a phenomenal
central defender'.
'He's a top player and I think he
could be a phenomenal central defender, with the quality of his pass, his
aerial game, his agility in such a big body.
'For the defensive side of the game,
coming from the back with the ball he could be a phenomenal central defender
too. So he can play in so many positions.
'The problem is not the position,
the problem is not the tactical system, the problem is, in my opinion, somebody
that comes from a different football and needs time to be at his best level in
the football that is really difficult to play, especially for midfield
players.
'I think it's really difficult to
play and to adapt from different realities. But he is a phenomenal player.'
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