Euro 2020: Ronaldo coy on future amid Man Utd links
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has told boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he prefers to play in a more attacking role than the one in which he is used by the Red Devils.
Man Utd midfielder Paul Pogba has told Ole Gunnar Solskjaer where he should play (Image: GETTY)
United re-signed Pogba from Juventus for £90m in 2016, just four years after they had allowed him to leave for Turin at the end of his contract.
Pogba scored 34 goals in 178 appearances for the Serie A side, compared to the 38 in 206 that he has managed for United.
But he has said that he was allowed more freedom at Juventus and believes he will play in a similar role during France’s Euro 2020 opener against Germany on Tuesday.
“It’s true that at Juve it was different from Manchester United,” Pogba told L’Equipe in a joint interview with the former France midfielder Patrick Vieira.
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We were already playing with three midfielders [at Juve], in 5-3-2. I had the freedom, I had to be in the box, to attack. It was an obligation. In Manchester, I have the freedom to go into the box, but the priority is to play and defend.
“We play in 4-2-3-1, also a diamond. I am a little more in the transmission, in the construction. But I have more freedom than in Manchester to enter the box, to make runs forwards.
At the same time, when you have Griezmann, Kylian, you don’t want to enter their spaces, you don’t need to.”
Man Utd boss Solskjaer has often played Pogba in a deeper midfield position (Image: GETTY)
Pogba starred for France in a more advanced role as they lifted the 2018 World Cup.
He scored twice during the competition in Russia, including one in Les Bleus’ 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final.
And he has told United boss Solskjaer that he prefers to play higher up the pitch so that he can contribute with goals.
He continued: “I would like to play more offensive [laughs]. To score fifteen goals per season is what I would like.
“But Patrick [Vieira] said it… we must put ourselves at the service of the collective. In Manchester, as in blue, the collective will always come before the player.”