Solskjaer on Pogba's Real Madrid "dream": He's Utd's for another two years

Paul Pogba may have declared playing for Real Madrid is his dream, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer plans to get the best out of him at Manchester United over the next two years.

"Why not one day?" - Pogba on Real Madrid "dream"

While representing France during the international break, Pogba told a news conference that he would welcome the opportunity to play for LaLiga's champions, stating: "All footballers would love to play for Real Madrid. It is a dream for me. Why not one day?"

The 27-year-old, who is also said to be a target for Barcelona, has a contract at Old Trafford until June but the club possess an option to extend that agreement by another year.

Solskjaer: "Paul's our player"

Solskjaer appeared to suggest that will be exercised and he has no intention to let Pogba leave early. "Paul's our player," he said on Friday when asked about the midfielder's comments.

"He's gonna be here for another two years and I'm sure Paul is focused on doing his best for us and we want to see the best of Paul. In the next couple of years I'm sure we'll get the best out of him."

United shelled out what was at the time a world-record fee of £89 million to re-sign Pogba from Juventus in August 2016, looking to add creativity and goalscoring to their midfield.

He enjoyed an impressive 2018-19 season, scoring 13 goals and supplying nine assists in 35 Premier League appearances - his best return in a single top-flight campaign.

However, he has struggled with injuries since, being involved in four goals (one scored, three assisted) in 19 league appearances since the start of 2019-20. The perception has consequently been that he has failed to live up to expectations.

Yet in just over four seasons since returning to United, Pogba has had a hand in 51 goals (25 scored, 26 assisted) in the Premier League - five midfielders have registered more over the same time frame with Kevin De Bruyne leading the way on 87 (30 scored, 57 assisted). Furthermore, he has averaged a goal involvement every 180.3 minutes - essentially one every two games.

That is an improvement from the 198.6 mark during his time at Juventus, where he was involved in 50 goals (28 scored, 22 assisted) across four seasons at Serie A. Only Miralem Pjanic (57), Antonio Candreva (61) and Marek Hamsik (71) played a role in more over the same timeframe.

If Solskjaer feels he is yet to get what he expects out of Pogba, he will clearly need to take the Frenchman's career to new heights.