Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand believes that the club are partly responsible for Paul Pogba's failure to live up to expectations at Old Trafford by never building a team around him.
United smashed their record fee for a player when they brought Pogba back to the club in 2016, after the midfielder had been a revelation at Juventus.
During his stint in Italy Pogba played an instrumental role in the Old Lady winning four Serie A titles, two Coppa Italias and two Italian Supercups as he established himself as one of the best players in the world.
There was much anticipation when he made his return to Manchester but the Frenchman has never been able to rediscover the form he showed in Turin on a consistent basis.
His second tenure at United has been marked by a falling-out with Jose Mourinho and disputes between the club and his agent, Mino Raiola, while he has spent the majority of the current season on the sidelines with an ankle injury that has limited him to just eight appearances.
However, Ferdinand believes that the club haven't created the best environment for Pogba to succeed in.
"Has he been the Paul Pogba that we come to expect when he’s a £90million transfer? I’d argue that he hasn’t been as consistent as we’d like,” Ferdinand said in a Q&A on his YouTube channel.
“But at the same time, this has been a squad in absolute transition, had multiple managers.
“It’s like a business. If you invested £90m in a certain part of your business, you’d make that the jewel in your crown and build around it and I don’t think that’s what’s happened with Paul Pogba.
“If you’re spending that much money and he’s a superstar like he is, you know what he’s bringing to the table, he’s won multiple things, been instrumental in doing that, how are you not gonna build that around him?
“It doesn’t matter who you bring in, if the team isn’t consistent and the team is still trying to find themselves. Yes, you can bring in great players but for them to make that huge difference and be that catalyst – to take them from a low ebb to being Champions League winners and league contenders – I think it’s impossible to expect.”
