London - Former Manchester United player Paul Scholes has questioned whether the club should pay a world-record fee for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, saying the 23-year-old is not in the same bracket as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
United have been negotiating with Juventus over the transfer of Pogba, who is a top target for new manager Jose Mourinho, according to media reports in Britain.
Scholes was Pogba’s teammate when the latter was a teenager at United and feels despite his obvious talent, the France international has a long way to go before he can stake his claim as one of the world’s top players and command a record fee.
“He was a very talented young player, I played with him and I knew how good he was,” Scholes, who is playing in a futsal tournament in India, told the Times of India daily.
“I just don’t think he is worth £86million. For that sort of money, you want someone who is going to score 50 goals a season like Ronaldo or Messi. Pogba is nowhere near there yet.”
Scholes also praised Manchester City’s capture of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan for a fee worth around £20m, according to British media reports.
“I think Gundogan is a really impressive player,” Scholes said. “I’ve seen a lot of him at Borussia Dortmund. If he can stay fit, I think he can be a fantastic player. I also think he is great value for the money Manchester City paid for him. I think he is a bargain.”
Meanwhile, Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to become the highest-profile casualty of Mourinho’s shake-up at Old Trafford as the new Manchester United manager sets about trimming his squad for the upcoming season.
After signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mourinho wants to complete his summer spending with £100m-rated Pogba before the Community Shield in a fortnight’s time.
Pogba’s arrival will leave United overloaded in central midfield and Schweinsteiger, pictured, is the favourite to make way, having fallen down the pecking order behind Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini.
The 31-year-old Germany captain has been linked with Besiktas and Paris Saint-Germain just a year after joining United from Bayern Munich for £6.6m on a three-year deal worth £150 000-a-week.
Former Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, who comes up against Mourinho in Beijing today when United play Manchester City on their pre-season tour of China, later claimed Schweinsteiger had not been fully fit for three years, and those concerns were borne out during a disappointing season curtailed by a knee injury in March after only 13 Premier League starts.
Schweinsteiger is on honeymoon after marrying his tennis star partner Ana Ivanovic and is expected to report for pre-season training at the end of next week.
Reuters, Daily Mail