The real Pogba’s Jess a nice guy
JESSE LINGARD has leapt to the defence of his “humble” friend Paul Pogba.
After issues at Manchester United with manager Jose Mourinho,
£89million Pogba has now been booed by fans of his country – France.
But England’s Lingard,
25, claims his Old Trafford team-mate is just misunderstood.
He said: “Of course I feel for Paul and he is always going to get that.
“But as long as I have known him from when he was young, he’s been so down to earth.
“He’s so humble and a great human being off the pitch.
“On the field he helps you and he’s provided some important assists and goals for us this season.
“And Paul is only going to get better. He is still young. He’s still learning the game. The world is at his feet.”
Lingard (below with Pogba) looks to be an integral part of Gareth Southgate’s England set-up, just as Pogba, 25, is with France.
And he added: “The speculation definitely goes with the territory of being Paul Pogba.
“I just think it is him. Everyone knows what Paul is about and he’s a great lad and the performances he has put in for United this season have been great, as well.
“But I think it is the same for every footballer.
“That is one of the things about me. People think I am messing about dancing but they don’t know the real person.
“Until you meet the person in the flesh, people can’t really judge a player from what they have seen in the media.
“People definitely forget that we are young lads. But we are serious when we step on the pitch. You should know your role, know your responsibilities and have that mindset to go out and win.
“That’s what we do week in, week out. Off the pitch, of course, we have to be role models. But we are still young lads and we do what normal young lads do.”