PAUL POGBA loves Manchester United but his need to prove he can play at the top saw him leave once – and it could happen again, says Dimitar Berbatov.
The Bulgarian striker was at Old Trafford when Pogba was a youngster, before the Frenchman quit for Juventus in 2012.
But Berbatov told Betfair Pogba is “shy” and “hard-working” despite his outgoing social media demeanour and just wants to be the best he can be.
Looking back at the World Cup winner’s early days at Old Trafford, Berbatov said: “I remember when Paul Pogba used to come and train with us in the first team.
“He would put in the effort to impress the boss, the coaches and the players. You could see straight away the talent in Pogba.
“Even then he had that big stride and he could read the game and intercept passes really well, it was difficult back then to go past him.
“The only thing he was lacking back then was that confidence, because he was coming from the second team and training with the first team which was a big thing.
“Of course, he was a bit shy, he probably could have done better but it’s understandable when you are in that situation because you are in awe of the players around you and that can sometimes stop you from performing.”
Berbatov continued by saying Pogba was right to quit United for Juventus – and again made the correct call in returning in 2016 for a then-world-record £89million.
The ex-United and Tottenham star said: “People say he should have stayed at United and developed playing under Sir Alex Ferguson…
“In the end he didn’t get much of a chance to play and his desire to play more football was the reason he went to Juventus in my opinion.
“He went to Juventus and he was unbelievable, the goals he scored, the way he clicked with the players around him was great.
“He was always meant to come back to United because I think he loves it there and he associates himself with English football – the way the training is, the way the games are and the culture of it.
“He’s still one of the best even though he gets criticised most of the time, of course, he can do better but he needs to stay fit and healthy which is exactly what I want for him.
“I think it was the right decision for him to move to Italy, he wanted to prove to everybody that he could play at that age and he did exactly that.”
Despite rumours of rifts between Pogba and his bosses back at Old Trafford in the last four years – Berbatov is certain the France star – a summer target for Juventus and Real Madrid – will be tight with former reserve team pal Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Berbatov claimed: “I’m sure he has a great relationship with Solkjaer, they were together in the second team, so I’m sure they talk often.
“I can’t imagine them not speaking in the week, before matches and after games.
“I’m sure Ole speaks quite a lot about how to get the best out of his players.
“Sometimes, it is about personal motivation and wanting to show how good you are to everybody, you can’t do that alone and you need your teammates to help you out with that.”
Berbatov concluded by saying Pogba is still world class – but his desire to play through injuries unbeknownst to fans are giving him a bad reputation.
He said: “I think he does need more consistency in his game, but sometimes we don’t always know the whole story.
“He might have been playing with an injury at times, maybe he wasn’t feeling good, but he wanted to play.
“We are all like this, when we have problems, we want to play and when we do play with problems we don’t always produce 100 per cent.
“Hopefully, he stays healthy, finds the right position where he knows he is going to play great, do what he does best and doesn’t pay attention to the unfair criticism.”
