Pogba seeks advice from Deschamps

Paul Pogba plans to provide Didier Deschamps with a detailed account of his troubles at Manchester United when he holds talks with the France coach this week.

Pogba has started just four of United’s past 11 games owing to poor form, injury and illness and his relationship with manager Jose Mourinho has come under strain.

With the World Cup looming, Deschamps has admitted he wants to “better understand” the reasons behind the midfielder’s struggles, and the player is keen to confide in his national team coach and get matters off his chest.

France play Colombia in Paris on Friday and the pair are expected to talk before then. Deschamps’s side face Russia four days later.

Deschamps acknowledged that Pogba’s woes were far from ideal from a French perspective and admitted the player – who was dropped to the bench for the defeat by Sevilla and the FA Cup win over Brighton last week – “cannot be happy with what he is going through with his club”.

“There must be many reasons,” Deschamps said. “It can happen elsewhere that a player is a bit down or is going through a particular situation with his club. That could be Paul now. I will talk to the player to understand better.”

Another France player enduring a difficult time at Old Trafford is Anthony Martial, who has also been called up for the friendlies. His agent was coy when asked about his client’s club future. “Will he stay in Manchester in the summer? I can’t say anything else about it at the moment,” Philippe Lamboley told an Italian website.