"Let Pogba go" - Ibrahimovic urges Man United
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has urged his former club to sell wantaway midfielder Paul Pogba, who is a prime target of Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the latest former Manchester United player to urge the club to let Paul Pogba leave amid intense speculation linking him with Real Madrid.
Pogba is reportedly desperate to get out of Old Trafford and has Real boss Zinedine Zidane waiting to welcome him with open arms. But United are reluctant to let him go and have set his price-tag as high as 180 million euros in a bid to complicate his move to the Spanish club.
Yesterday, United legend Teddy Sheringham came out to urge United and his former team mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to stop stalling and let the 26-year-old midfielder go if he doesn't want to be at the club.
“It would be best for everyone involved if he left. If Real Madrid want him, whatever they’re paying, let him go. Use the money to go and buy someone who really wants to be playing for Man United, showing how good he is and what their worth is,” Sheringham told talkSport.
Ibrahimovic: “No sense” for United to keep Pogba
Now, Ibrahimovic, who played alongside Pogba at United from 2016 to 2018, has reiterated Sheringham’s advice to their former club.
“I think if he doesn't want to stay, it makes no sense to keep him," the LA Galaxy striker said in an interview with the BBC.
"You let him go and if he wants to be somewhere else, that is where you let him go to. Use the situation and bring in somebody who wants to stay."
"The dressing is more (about) the players' respecting each other. They're professionals and understand each other's situation. Who worries more is the club and the management.
"You don't want a player in your club or in your team that doesn't want to stay because then you know he will not give 100 or 200 per cent, or he does that and still doesn't want to stay."
Solskjaer reitirates faith in Pogba
Meanwhile, as Sheringham and Ibrahimovic have both come out to advise the club to sell Pogba, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reiterated his faith in the French midfielder, stating that Manchester United doesn’t have a starting XI without him.
“I think when Paul Pogba does not start, I think you know it is not the first 11,” Solskjaer said after Pogba didn’t start in United’s 1-0 win against Norwegian club Kristiansund on Tuesday.
The 1-0 victory gave The Red Devils their fifth pre-season win on the bounce after previously seeing off Perth Glory, Leeds United, Inter Milan and Spurs. Their last warm-up fixture comes against AC Milan in Cardiff on Saturday before they kick off their Premier League campaign against Chelsea the following weekend.