‘I feel sorry for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’: Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs wants Paul Pogba saga to end

Speculation continues to surround Paul Pogba, who has been regularly linked with a move away from Old Trafford.

Former Manchester United captain Ryan Giggs put his weight behind under-fire manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer amid the controversy surrounding mid-fielder Paul Pogba. Giggs’ public backing for his former teammate came in the aftermath of Mino Raiola’s (Pogba’s agent) comments, who criticised the Red Devils for their handling of the Frenchman.

File image of Paul Pogba with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Action Images via Reuters)

Speculation continues to surround the 26-year-old, who has been regularly linked with a move away from Old Trafford. Giggs stated that it is difficult to keep fit Pogba out of the team because of his quality, however, the Frenchman hasn’t performed at a consistent basis for the Old Trafford outfit and that makes him expendable.

“I feel sorry for Ole because he’s got to continuously answer questions on Paul Pogba,” Giggs told Optus Sport. “I say United are on a good run at the moment and that’s without him. He’s come on and done okay in a few games but it’s disappointing at the moment.

“He is a talent, we talk about him all the time, he’s not consistently done it for United. Ole can only deal with the players that are fit at the moment. To continuously answer questions on a player that is rumoured to be leaving, to be injured, to be elsewhere when he should be perhaps in Carrington training, is frustrating to a manager.”

“You can’t not play Pogba if he’s fit because you haven’t got anyone (else) with his quality to come in. Let him do his talking on the pitch, that was how I was brought up. Do you talking on the pitch. Now we’re in a different era, social media’s dominating everything at the moment.

“But it’s frustrating because the lad has got quality. Like I said, he’s not shown it consistently for United since he signed, since he’s come back. Is he happy? I don’t know. Does he want to be elsewhere? I don’t know,” he added.

The French World Cup winner made his comeback after nearly three months out with an ankle injury in a 2-0 defeat at Watford on December 22 and also made an appearance off the bench in a 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle four days later but has since been sidelined again.

Solskjaer was keen to play down any suggestion of a disagreement regarding the injury, and said: “Paul came back after a long spell out, (featured in) a few games, had a reaction, didn’t go to Burnley.

“He felt his ankle was sore, we did a scan. It’s not the same injury, it’s a different injury. Of course when you get that scan you consult your own medical people as well, like I did. He wanted a second opinion and the advice was to have it done.”

On the injury, Solskjaer added: “It’s not a major one and probably, as I said, three or four weeks.

((With agency inputs))