Paul Scholes has questioned whether Paul Pogba is worth Manchester United paying a world-record fee to prise him from Juventus, with the former midfielder saying he is not in the same class as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
José Mourinho wants to make Pogba his fourth major signing of the summer to follow Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But Scholes, who was a team-mate of Pogba when the 23-year-old was at United as a teenager, told Sport Witness: “He was a very talented young player, I played with him and I knew how good he was. He played for the first team maybe once or twice, but from my understanding he was asking for too much money [when he left in 2012].
“For his age, he was asking for far too much money, for a player who hasn’t played first-team football. OK, he has gone on to great things. I think certainly there has been a lot of improvement. He needed to improve if he is going to be a player worth £86m.”
While United may have to pay closer to £100m, Scholes added: “I just don’t think he is worth £86m. For that sort of money, you want someone who is going to score 50 goals a season like Ronaldo or Messi. Pogba is nowhere worth that kind of money yet.”
Scholes does, however, believe the £21m Manchester City paid for Ilkay Gundogan was worth the outlay. “I think Gundogan is a really impressive player. I’ve seen a lot of him at Borussia Dortmund. I think he has a lot of injury problems, which could be a problem.
“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.”
