Matteo Darmian has leapt to the defence of former teammate Paul Pogba by claiming that the France midfielder is unfairly criticised even though he "really cares about doing well at Manchester United ".
Pogba has endured an underwhelming season at Old Trafford thanks to ongoing ankle problems and he has failed to find the back of the net in any of his eight appearances in all competitions.
However, the World Cup winner has returned to fitness and is likely to stay with the Red Devils for at least another year after having a change of heart about a summer transfer to Real Madrid.
And Pogba's attitude to return to full fitness and fight to be part of United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's plans comes as no surprise to Darmian.
The Italy international told The Guardian : "Did I see Pogba unhappy or willing to leave? No, I honestly didn't see him sad or unhappy, quite the opposite, for all the time I was in Manchester, Paul was absolutely happy with his decision to go back there.
"He really cares about doing well at Manchester United."
Darmian spent three years training alongside Pogba before moving to Serie A club Parma last summer. He believes the former Juventus man will bounce back to show the form that made United pay £89.3m for him in 2016.
“Paul is my friend and I have an excellent relationship with him," Darmian added. "First of all: we are talking about a real champion here, a great footballer, but even they can have some periods when they don’t do as well [as they would like].
"The real 'problem' with Pogba at United, I think, was the price the club paid for him and that conditioned the way people perceived him.
"There has been a lot of unjustified criticism towards Pogba, for example that he doesn't work hard enough, but he always gave his best, I can assure you, in every training session.
"In my opinion his performances were good in recent years, they talk about him too negatively [in the UK]."
