United coach Solskjaer hails Pogba as ‘world’s best midfielder’

Paul Pogba has been hailed as the “best midfielder in the world” by Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the Frenchman returned from a long injury lay-off.

The World Cup winner was in action for United for the first time since late September as a substitute in their chastening 2-0 defeat at Watford on Sunday.

He could be in the starting team against Newcastle on Thursday as Solskjaer desperately seeks the creativity the team needs to break down stubborn opposition defences.

“Let’s see how he reacts to this, how he feels,” said Solskjaer.

“He did really well when he came on. Big, big plus and it might be that we do get him in from the start.”

Pogba, who had only played twice since the end of August due to an ankle injury, was introduced on Sunday with United already trailing by two goals and went close to scoring during a late attacking flurry from the visitors.

“He can play anywhere, he can play the whole midfield,” said Solskjaer.

“He’s a box-to-box midfielder. He can drop deep, get it, play long passes. He can get it higher up and combine like he did today.

“That’s the beauty of having Paul, because he is the best all-round midfielder in the world,” added the United boss, who has said the 26-year-old will not be leaving in the January transfer window despite links with Real Madrid.

Solskjaer said he was looking for a reaction from his players against Newcastle after United again failed to turn dominance of possession into a positive result at Watford.

“One of the good things about the team this year, we have reacted after bad results,” he said.

“We haven’t kept the consistency as we would have liked the other way but we’ve never gone on a big (bad) run like we did towards the end of last season so there will be a reaction, definitely.”

United are struggling in eighth place in the Premier League, seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea despite recent morale-boosting wins against Tottenham and Manchester City.

Meanwhile, according to Michael Owen, Pogba is on a “different level” to the rest of his team-mates at Old Trafford.

Pogba has endured a frustrating 2019-20 campaign to date, with a persistent ankle issue causing him to miss over two months of fixtures across all competitions.

Owen was full of praise for Pogba after his impressive cameo at Watford, expressing his belief that 26-year-old is “on a wavelength that is beyond any other player on the pitch”.

“He’s on a different level,” the former United striker told Optus Sport. “I had that throughout my career, the likes of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Steven Gerrard, [Zinedine] Zidane.

“Players like that, as soon as you’re thinking of something, they’ve already thought of it. You’re just on a wavelength that is beyond any other player on the pitch in many ways.

“And you see Paul Pogba straightaway there, soon as he comes on, he’s spotting things that no one else has spotted.”

Owen also highlighted Pogba’s importance prior to the match, suggesting Solskjaer will be pleased to have a prized asset back in his squad for the remainder of a hectic festive period.

“He’s creative, he scores goals. He’s everything that they are missing in that central area,” Owen said.

“[Solskjaer] will be absolutely delighted that he’s got his creativity back.”

Agencies