Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wants Paul Pogba to forget his price tag and realise his true potential in 2016/17 Premier League.
The French midfielder returned to Old Trafford after United completed his transfer from Juventus for a world-record fee of £89m in the recently concluded summer window. Mourinho was upbeat about the signing and opined his ward would go onto join the greats of the club.
Pogba earned praise for his impressive second debut for the Red Devils in their game against Southampton. He played a free-flowing game in the midfield as Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted a brace and gave United their second straight win.
However, the 23-year-old has failed to make a strong impact in the recent outings. Pogba remained anonymous in the midfield in United's 2-1 defeat to cross-city rivals Manchester City in the derby clash at Old Trafford.
Despite making eight changes to the squad that played against City, the United manager went in with Pogba for their Europa League opener against Dutch side Feyenoord on 15 September. But the former Juventus star had another woeful day, which saw United lose their tie 1-0. Mourinho though believes Pogba has done enough after not having a pre-season with the Red Devils.
"I just want Paul to forget that [transfer fee] and to play his football. [Having had] no pre-season, he had a very good impact in the first game and it's normal that, after that, he has a little decrease," Mourinho was quoted as saying by United's official website.
"But I'm full of trust in him because I know the player he is; I know he's a very good guy with a lot of ambition, so the form will come naturally. As the team improves, form improves."
Meanwhile, United legend Paul Scholes had insisted that Mourinho should have played Michael Carrick alongside Pogba instead of Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera on Thursday in Rotterdam. He shed light on how Andrea Pirlo had helped the French youngster at Juventus.
"I would have liked to have seen Michael Carrick tonight at Juventus he (Pogba) had Andrea Pirlo, one of the best playmakers in the world. I think it needs somebody like that," Scholes told BT Sport, as quoted by metro.co.uk.
