PELL TAKES SAM GAMBLE
PAUL POGBA has been reborn over the past week but Nemanja Matic reckons he still has much more to offer. Pogba has two assists and two goals in the two games since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge at Manchester United. He struggled under Jose Mourinho, scoring just three times with three assists in his previous 14 league outings.
Matic believes Pogba can become the club’s biggest star, but must keep progressing. “He’s very important for us,” he said, speaking after the Boxing
Day win over Huddersfield. “When he plays at his best, he can make the difference in every game.
“He played very well today, but I think he can do even more.
“I do think so, but slowly, game by game. Today was very important for him to score some goals.
“His confidence for the next game is going to be bigger and he needs to know that he still can improve. “He needs to know he’s very important for this team. His quality can make the difference and I hope he will continue like this.” Matic (above) was seen as the ideal ball-winning player to complement Pogba when he arrived 18 months ago for a club record £89.3million. “I know he can play well,” said the former Chelsea star. “It doesn’t matter if it’s with me, Ander Herrera, Fred in the middle or Marouane Fellaini.
“I think if we give our best then his quality or my quality or Marcus Rashford’s, Jesse Lingard’s quality can make the difference. If we’re not giving everything we can, then one player can’t change anything.”
United are running more and working harder than they did under Mourinho, which Matic rates as basic requirements. He warns they must match their opponents’ efforts to allow their class to tell.
“We have to work,” he said. “We have to because when we’re not on our higher level, the teams are going from here with a point, which was the case a few times this season.
“But when we’re fighting, when we know what we have to do in every moment of the game, then the other teams don’t have much chance to take points from here.
“I remember when I played against Man United, we had always extra motivation.
“Today is the same. Everyone wants to show against Man United they can compete with us, so we need to know our level of running and fighting needs to be the same or even higher than the other team.
“Then our quality can make the difference.” WEST HAM have offered Samir Nasri a six-month, £80,000-a-week contract.
The Irons have backed boss Manuel Pellegrini by handing the French midfielder, 31, a heavily incentivised deal until the end of the season.
Nasri (left) lifted the title four years ago under Pellegrini at Manchester City.
The move comes after the Hammers boss was hit by the loss of striker Javier Hernandez and defender Fabian Balbuena, with hamstring and knee injuries.
Nasri is ineligible to play for the Hammers until they host Brighton on January 2 as he is serving an 18-month doping ban, which ends on Monday.
Should Nasri impress, the Irons have an option to keep him beyond next summer. PSG are keen on a £9million January move for Aaron Ramsey.
The Arsenal midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season after the north Londoners withdrew their offer of a new deal.
But the French champions are ready to move for him when the transfer window opens – to head off interest from Juventus and Bayern Munich.
Ramsey, 28, has largely featured as a substitute for the Gunners in this season’s campaign.