Carragher savages Paul Pogba and claims Man United should be looking to sell France star this summer

Jamie Carragher has insisted he would not select Paul Pogba if he was Manchester United manager and believes the club should be looking to move the midfielder on in the summer.

The 27-year-old Frenchman was on the bench for United’s last two games before the current international break, which saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men lose to Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League before bouncing back with a Premier League win at Everton.

On both occasions however, the Norwegian preferred to start the likes of Scott McTominay and Fred behind Bruno Fernandes, leading uncertainty around Pogba’s future at Old Trafford to arise again a month after he talked up a move to Real Madrid.

And speaking on talkSPORT, former Liverpool defender Carragher insisted he does not believe the France World Cup winner is a ‘great player’ given his lack of impact at the club and believes he should be allowed to seek a move away next year. 

‘I think in some ways everyone is unhappy with his positioning,’ Carragher said.

‘The fact we are still talking about four and a half years later it suggests he’s never been good enough in different tactical set-ups. 

‘Would I pick Pogba in the United team now? No I wouldn’t. I don’t think he’s a great player. I’ve said it before. I thought he may have the impact of Lampard at Chelsea, Gerrard at Liverpool, Yaya Toure at City.

‘Those players drove their teams to titles and European Cups. When you are that man to take United to the next level, and that’s winning titles and European cups, that’s what we were almost told was coming when he was the world’s most expensive player. 

‘We were told he’d done it for Juve, been in Champions League finals and it just hasn’t happened for him at United and I’d be looking to move him on now.’ 

Solskjaer is just the second United manager has played under after having a rather fractious relationship with former boss Jose Mourinho following his return to Old Trafford for £89million in 2016.

And while the Norwegian boss has had questions asked about his tactical nous, Carragher believes he should stick with his current midfield system. 

‘Pogba’s fans are saying Jose was too defensive, Ole isn’t a top level manager, I’d be looking at myself,’ Carragher continued.

‘He’s played enough games for United now and finally Ole has said, maybe rightly so, Fernandes is my player. He’s been really good since coming in January so I’d be looking to take the money on Pogba. 

Asked if the players around him were good enough, Carragher added: ‘I think midfielders, others in the team, they could look at Pogba and say, ‘what’s he doing for us?’. 

‘We keep talking about United’s players not being good enough, but they spend the most every summer. 

‘Pogba may not take United to titles but we could still say he’s driving them on and he’s the best player in the team. I’m not sure we can say that. 

‘At this moment he finds himself out the team because when he’s been in it he doesn’t look like he fits them well.’

Carragher is not the first former player to have his say on Pogba’s situation at United, with former United man Phil Neville labelling his omission ‘disgraceful.

Pogba’s national team boss Didier Deschamps was also critical of the club’s handling of the situation, saying he could not be happy with his playing time or positioning.