Daily Times

Manchester United’s former players from the famous Class of 92 are critical of midfielder Paul Pogba because he was not loyal to former manager Alex Ferguson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said. Pogba, who came through United’s academy, left the club for free in 2012 after Ferguson fell out with the Frenchman’s agent Mino Raiola but returned following a four-year spell at Juventus for a then-world record fee in 2016. The 26-year-old was criticised for his poor form earlier this season by former players Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, who work as television pundits, and Ibrahimovic said it stemmed from Pogba’s decision to leave United and Ferguson for Juventus.

“With Pogba, he was with United when he was young, then he went out and he came back,” Ibrahimovic, who played with Pogba at United for 1-1/2 seasons, told the Mirror. “In the circle of Ferguson, they don’t like that because they stayed all their life under Ferguson and they never moved from Ferguson. They didn’t even talk if Ferguson didn’t tell them to open their mouth. So now if they’re talking, I don’t know whether Ferguson gave them permission or not.” Wales manager Ryan Giggs, who made more than 960 appearances for United and won 13 league titles under Ferguson, said the former players had a right to voice their views. “When you play over 2,000 games between us, we are going to have an opinion,” Giggs told reporters ahead of Wales’ friendly against Trinidad and Tobago. “Sometimes it’s positive, sometimes negative, but it doesn’t have an effect on results. We are supporters. That’s what football is about, having different opinions. But he (Ibrahimovic) obviously knows more about the club than us,” Giggs sarcastically added. Despite playing a crucial role in winning the World Cup with France last year, Pogba struggled for form at United earlier this season under former manager Jose Mourinho, who benched the midfielder towards the end of his Old Trafford tenure.

Published in Daily Times, March 20^th 2019.