Manchester United boss, Jose Mourinho, has hailed Paul Pogba as the best midfield player in the world.
The 23-year-old returned to Old Trafford this summer, for a world-record fee of £89million, which puts him in the same bracket as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, Mourinho has played down such comparisons and says fans should not expect too much from Pogba.
“Can Paul score Ronaldo and Messi’s goals? Not even 25 per cent, I believe. I believe he cannot score 20 goals in a season,” Mourinho said.
“So if to be the best player in the world means to score a lot of goals, that’s not the point. But he’s one of the best midfield players, maybe I could say the best midfield player, in the world.
“I’m not worried with an ‘impact’ and I don’t think he’s worried with that. I see him very calm, I see him very comfortable in this role of a star player and feeling very well under that skin.
“I don’t see him under pressure, I don’t see him in training trying to do things to show that he’s different, to show that he’s better.
“I think his impact will be something very natural, a progressive impact of contribution to improve the team, because that’s what he’s here for – to win trophies.
“I’m not expecting, the first time he touches the ball, to dribble past five guys and score a wonder goal. I expect the first time he touches the ball to make a correct pass, a good selection of passing, a good choice, a good simple execution and a fluid game.
“So, maybe it’s not an impact, maybe just a natural improvement of the team, because he’s a super football player.
“When you speak about the best players in the world, you go immediately to the ones that score a lot of goals.
“You don’t give a golden ball [Ballon d’Or] to a goalkeeper. You gave it to [centre-back Fabio] Cannavaro once, because in that season he was the captain of Italy, the world champions.
“[Paolo] Maldini never got a gold ball. [Javier] Zanetti never got a gold ball. Top goalkeepers, over history, didn’t get a gold ball. You look immediately to the ones that score a lot of goals.”
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