First-team coach Phelan is excited about the midfielder's future at the club
Tuesday 9 April 2019 11:42, UK
Paul Pogba is "not the finished deal" but is "maturing all the time," according to Manchester United first-team coach Mike Phelan.
The 26-year-old has thrived under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since the manager's appointment in December, scoring eight of his 11 Premier League goals and managing six of nine assists in that period after a disappointing first half of the season under Jose Mourinho.
And Phelan, who returned to the club alongside Solskjaer, believes the midfielder might not have been at his best under the previous regime but has improved with coaching.
"I think that happened to quite a few players, they probably drew into themselves a little bit and were very cautious," Phelan said. "Paul had a spell where all the eyes were on him and delivery of his best wasn't there all the time - the consistency.
"Now we are trying to apply ourselves to Paul's game. Ole has done a terrific job at helping Paul through certain spells and he has embraced that. He is maturing all the time."
In recent weeks, Pogba has been heavily linked with Real Madrid and even admitted playing for Zinedine Zidane would be a 'dream'.
Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu also revealed they were priced out by United for Pogba's signature in 2016 when the English club spent what was then a world-record fee of £89m to secure his services.
Amid all the reports and speculation, Phelan insists Pogba's future is in Manchester, and said the midfielder has plenty of room to grow and help bring trophies to the club.
"He is not the finished deal even though everyone looks at him and sees a World Cup winner already. But he is not the finished deal, there is still a lot more to come and that is the exciting bit about United," Phelan said.
"There are players there who haven't achieved for the club what they need to achieve and we want to make sure that they relish that experience, embrace the opportunity to win things at Manchester United."
United will host Barcelona on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
