PAUL SCHOLES BELIEVES Manchester United will be paying over the odds if Paul Pogba returns to Old Trafford in a world-record transfer.
United have been heavily linked with a deal worth in excess of £100million (€120m) to bring Pogba back from Juventus, who he joined on a free transfer in 2012.
Scholes is a fan of Pogba’s abilities but feels such a hefty price tag would suggestively elevate him to the level of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – company in which the former England international insists the France midfielder does not yet belong.
“He was a very talented player,” Scholes told reporters when discussing Pogba’s fledgling United days. “I played with him quite a lot.
“If you ask me, at that time his agent was asking for a lot of money for a player who did not play first-team football except once or twice.
Okay he has gone on to great things and there was a massive improvement in him. I just don’t think he is a player worth £100m-plus right now.
“For that money, you would need a player who scores 50-plus goals a season, like Ronaldo or Messi. Pogba is not there yet.”
Jose Mourinho has added Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to his attacking options for the forthcoming season and Scholes feels both men will have points to prove.
“I haven’t seen much of Mkhitaryan but he seems to be a good player,” he said.
“With Ibrahimovic, he was playing at PSG and there were a lot of chances created and it was easy to score in that league.
“Is the United team as good as the PSG team? Not yet, maybe it will be. So in this league he will have to do a lot himself to score goals.”
Nevertheless, Scholes suggested rivals Manchester City might have snared the most impressive buy between the clubs so far this close season by persuading Ilkay Gundogan – the Germany international midfielder who is still recuperating from a knee injury – to join from Borussia Dortmund.
“He is a very good player if he can stay fit,” he added. “I have seen a lot of him with Dortmund. He has had a lot of injury problems but he can be fantastic if he can be fit.
“(Buying Gundogan) for about €20m – that’s a steal, these days.”
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