Paul Pogba form for Manchester United has been affected by Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes' prominence in the team, Paul Merson has insisted.
The French midfielder enjoyed a remarkable start to the season, registering seven assists in his first four league games, but has seen his form tail off and culminate in a straight red card in the 5-0 mauling by Liverpool.
Seemingly eternal transfer speculation has seen Pogba's future once again come into question with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, and Merson believes that the midfielder will flourish should he exit Old Trafford.
"I like Paul Pogba, he's a World Cup winner, I'm not going to sit here and say stuff because he's a player but he has to get on the ball," he said on Sky Sports.
"He has to get on the ball. When you're at Juventus and you're dominating possession, having 70 or 80 per cent of every football match, you're touching the ball a lot of times.
"At Man United, he's not the go-to there, sometimes Bruno Fernandes touches it, now all of a sudden they look for Ronaldo so instead of touching the ball 70 or 80 times in a match he's touching it 30 to 40 times, it's quite the difference.
"Then all of a sudden you feel like you've got to hit that glory ball a little bit more often to justify you playing well and that's been his problem.
"I like him, I think he'll go somewhere if he's not signing ... and be a massive success. He's a World Cup winner, it's hard to sit here and say anything about him, to be honest."
Pogba was back in the starting line-up for the midweek trip to Atalanta and Rio Ferdinand echoed Merson's comments regarding a need for discipline.
“We want to see a disciplined performance from Pogba," he told BT Sport.
"He’s got huge talent and seeing and watching the performance at the weekend, there’s pressure, so he will have to play the role he’s been given and earn that trust again.
"For him to miss Spurs away at the weekend I’m sure that dented his confidence.”
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