OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has insisted that he has “no doubt” that Paul Pogba still wants to play for Manchester United.
The Frenchman has been a target for Real Madrid and Juventus over the summer, with Los Blancos having even made him their top target ahead of Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen.
Madrid have reportedly stepped up their pursuit of Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek, with a move for Pogba proving difficult given the Premier League transfer window closes on August 8.
While Zinedine Zidane’s side could still negotiate a deal to bring in Pogba with the Spanish window not closing until September 2, it would leave United unable to sign a suitable replacement, thus making a transfer even more complex.
And Solskjaer is convinced that the World Cup winner is still happy to pull on a United shirt, telling reporters after the penalty shoot-out win over AC Milan on Saturday he has “no doubt” he wants to play for the club.
“Yeah,” he told a press conference when asked if he felt the midfielder still wanted to be at Old Trafford. “No doubts at all.”
Pogba missed out on Saturday’s International Champions Cup clash against Milan, which United won 5-4 on penalties following a 2-2 draw in regular time, with a knock, but Solskjaer downplayed any long-term worry over the French star.
“He’ll probably be back early on next week training,” the manager said. “It’s not an injury, it’s just some pain. So he’s not injured, but I wasn’t going to risk anything this weekend.”
Another player garnering a lot of attention this summer is Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku was one of the players to struggle under Solskjaer, and now seems set for the exit door with Serie A pair Juventus and Inter vying for his signature.
The Belgian hit out at critics who called him slow earlier in the week with a video, and Solskjaer says he’s spoken with the forward about his post but has no update on his transfer situation.
“I’ve spoke to Rom yeah, to put it that way,” he said. “That’s case closed.”
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