London: Manchester United’s Paul Pogba is the world’s best midfield player and has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or in the next five years, the Frenchman’s club and national teammate Anthony Martial has said.
Pogba, who rejoined United from Juventus in 2016, scored five goals and provided four assists in 30 Premier League appearances last campaign.
The 24-year-old has started the current season strongly with two goals and an assist in the first two league matches and Martial believes his compatriot can reach the next level and become the best footballer in the world.
“Paul is very mentally strong and he is very sure of himself,” Martial told United’s website (www.manutd.com).
“He is a big guy, he is very technical on the ball and he has lots of endurance. I would say he is probably the best midfield player in the world.
“He is still young, too, so he has a lot to work on and he can get even better ... If he continues to play and improve like he is doing then I think he is also going to win the Ballon d’Or award in the next five years.” Martial, who has scored two goals in as many league games this season, also praised Pogba’s attributes off the pitch and said the duo are targeting silverware at both domestic and national tournaments.
“We want to win a lot of trophies together at United, and we also want to win the World Cup with France,” the 21-year-old added.
The United duo will be looking to extend their flying start to the campaign when the club host Leicester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Argentine defender Marcos Rojo meanwhile gave another filip to early League leaders United by returning to training with the first team on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old — a member of the Argentinian side that lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final — is recovering from a knee ligament injury suffered last April which ruled him out of among other things United’s Europa League final triumph over Dutch outfit Ajax.
Rojo — who travelled to the United States with the squad for their pre-season tour and to the Super Cup in Macedonia where they lost to United manager Jose Mourinho’s former side Real Madrid — was pictured training with them on Tuesday.
Mourinho has said he didn’t see Rojo playing again until December but it didn’t prevent the club from trumpeting his return to the training ground and posting several photographs as evidence on twitter.
“Back at it on the training pitch” was the twitter caption for one before teasingly adding another “who do we have here?” along with images of Rojo. Ashley Young and Luke Shaw, who had groin and foot injuries respectively, also returned to first team training having successfully come through an Under-23 clash with Swansea on Monday.
— AFP
