Paul Pogba ‘never said anything’ about Real Madrid transfer, claims Antonio Valencia

Antonio Valencia has called on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to show
some ‘love’ for Paul Pogba and claims the midfielder ‘never
said anything’ about Real Madrid during their time together
at Manchester United.

Pogba has been out of action with an ankle injury since the
end of September but the 26-year-old has made significant
strides in his recovery and is expected to return later this
month.

The Frenchman has been heavily linked with a move to
Madrid ever since his public falling out with Jose Mourinho
and these rumours persisted through last summer’s transfer
window.

Pogba has made no secret of his desire to work with
Zinedine Zidane and Madrid’s iconic manager has returned
the compliment on a number of occasions.However, Solskjaer has consistently stated his desire to
keep Pogba at Old Trafford and ex-United captain Valencia
has played down speculation of a potential move to the
Bernabeu.

‘Pogba is a star. Do you know what he needs? Love,’
Valencia told Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.
‘I have heard many rumours about Zidane and Real Madrid,
but he never said anything.
‘He is a clever person. If at United we give this affection,
Pogba will shine.United have bounced back from a poor run of form to beat
Tottenham and Manchester City in the space of three days
and Valencia has been impressed with two players in
particular.

‘It’s difficult to manage such a unique case,’ he added.
‘I see United getting better and better, Marcus Rashford is
going through a great time.
‘They are also a solid team behind, with confidence and a
star David de Gea.’Ryan Giggs hailed United’s win at the Etihad as the ‘best
performance’ he’s seen from his former team in recent
years, but believes Solskjaer needs Pogba back to full
fitness if they are to take the ‘next step’.

‘It’s huge. The confidence it gives you, that you can produce
that performance,’ Giggs told Premier League Productions.
‘All big games you need that concentration and that’s what
the players had both defensively and when they won the ball
making sure that pass forward was good, the touch was
good and then as we’ve seen players flying off and causing
City big problems.

‘I think we all know United’s record against the big teams
when the big teams open up and we can expose on the
counter-attack, the next step is breaking teams down.‘And that’s where we have to get Paul Pogba back – he’s
the one who can unlock the door.

 Get him back playing well
and consistently, that’s the next step.
‘We’ve seen the record, I think every team above United
we’re unbeaten.

‘It’s the teams below who make it difficult at Old Trafford
where you’ve got to be patient, that’s the next step now.
‘But that was a fantastic performance, the best performance
I’ve seen for a long time from a United team.’