Mkhitaryan explains why Pogba critics should back off

Matt Stead

Henrikh Mkhitaryan reckons you ought to bloody back off if you are criticising Manchester United teammate Paul Pogba.

Both Mkhitaryan and Pogba joined the club in the summer – although the former’s fee of £26.3million was dwarfed by the world-record £89.3m United sent Juventus’ way for the French midfielder.

Pogba has impressed at times since re-joining the club he originally left in 2012, but some performances have also come in for criticism.

He has scored four goals and assisted three in 22 Premier League games so far, and many believe that a player of his apparent worth should have a better return.

But Mkhitaryan has defended his teammate, stating that he and manager Jose Mourinho are working together the “find the solution”.

“He has a very big potential and I know he is able to do it much better because he is able to do it and he has showed us quite a lot,” Mkhitaryan told Sky Sports.

“He needs a little bit more time to adapt because it’s not very easy to be worth £89m.

“For him, it is a little bit hard because he is still 23 years old and maybe he is thinking he needs to do more than he’s doing but I know with the manager he is going to find the solution to solve it and he’s trying to do it already.

“Maybe people are waiting for something extraordinary from him, some miracles, but everyone has to know he’s a football player, a human being, so he just has to play the way he can play and he will do better.”