POG GETS A LOAD OFF HIS MIND

£89M man blasts back at critics: They say I don’t score enough but I’m not a striker, I’m a midfielder, my job is to make the game

PAUL POGBA opened up on his tough first season back at Manchester United and said too much is expected of him after his world-record move.

When the Reds paid Juventus £89million in the summer to re-sign Pogba after a four-year hiatus, his arrival was expected to be the catalyst for their return to the top.

But he has failed to make the expected impact on his second coming, with Jose Mourinho’s side now struggling to secure a topfour finish having flopped in their challenge for the title.

Pogba has seven goals this season and as many assists, but his ever-changing hairstyles have often been more eye-catching than his performances for United, which have been distinctly underwhelming.

Yet, the France midfielder, 24, came out fighting ahead of tonight’s Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie against Anderlecht, rounding on his critics and claiming he is expected to be the complete player because of the huge fee paid for him.

“The people are looking at me and they judge me for not scoring goals and stuff like that,” said Pogba.

“If I was scoring goals, the people wouldn’t talk like this. But it’s football. The transfer is something else and on the pitch is something else.

“I’m doing a job. I’m a midfield player and some people think I’m an attacking player. I give some assists to some people and they don’t score – it can happen.

“Nobody talks about this, but it’s fine. People talk about the mountain of the transfer. People are looking at me saying, ‘Pogba should score goals, Pogba should do this’.

“I just have to do my job and my job is to make the game. Sometimes if I can make the team win, I’ll do it. My job is to be a midfielder, to make the game, make some assists.

“If I was scoring the goals that have hit the crossbar, I don’t think people would speak like this. But it’s football. We just enjoy it, we love it. It’s fine.

“Obviously, I want to do better, you can always do better. I can say I’m doing good, the team’s doing good and we’re looking forward to winning the Europa League and to fight for the top four. But we can forget about the transfer fee. It’s in the past. I think about the pitch, I think about myself, doing good on the pitch, doing good for the team. That’s it.”

Pogba was also criticised by former United defender Rio Ferdinand for his use of social media, posting videos of him and team-mate Jesse Lingard larking about, while Mourinho’s side were languishing in sixth place.

Then there was the infamous Pogba emoji, beamed all around the electronic advertising boards at Old Trafford during United’s 1-1 draw with rivals Liverpool in January, a game in which the player himself went missing. But Pogba defended his use of Twitter and Instagram, insisting it did not distract him from delivering on the pitch – and said he met with Ferdinand to discuss his criticism.

“What is on the pitch is on the pitch and what is outside the pitch is outside the pitch,” said Pogba. “I love life. I like to dance. It doesn’t effect me on the pitch.

“The time is different. Before you wouldn’t do this and now you do it. In America, basketball players listen to music. For me, it’s just enjoying life with Lingard.

“When I’m on the pitch, I’m serious. I’m focused and I want to win. I took it as advice as it’s a big club.

“I spoke with Rio and he told me what he meant.

“It is different generations, it’s not bad.”