THREE-TIME EUROPEAN CUP winner Graeme Souness has told Paul Pogba to put his medals on the table after the Manchester United midfielder claimed he did not know who his long-term critic was.
Sky Sports and Virgin Media Sport pundit Souness has often questioned the French World Cup winner’s attitude when discussing Pogba’s performances for Manchester United, and laughed off the comments which were made on Manchester United’s United podcast before laying down the gauntlet.
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"Graeme can show him the medals!" 🏅
The #SkyFootballShow discuss Paul Pogba's recent comments about Graeme Souness... pic.twitter.com/1Xo5KX9W19
The 27-year-old Pogba, whose season has been restricted to just eight appearances due to injury, said he takes little notice of criticism in a general sense, doesn’t watch a great deal of Sky Sports News, and until recently was relatively unfamiliar with his Scottish naysayer.
“I didn’t even know who he was, really,” Pogba said. “I heard he was a great player and stuff like that. I know the face but [not] the name.
“Like I said I’m not someone that watches a lot of [punditry]. I watch a lot of football but I don’t stay after the game to listen to what they say about why they did this, or why they did that. I like to focus on football.”
Souness – who won three European Cups, five league titles and three League Cups while with Liverpool – responded to Pogba on Sky Sports News on Tuesday morning.
“I’m happy with that,” Souness laughed, before adding somewhat more seriously:
The oldest football in saying comes to mind: ‘Put your medals on the table’. I’ve got a big table.
Pogba has not played since St Stephen’s Day having suffered a setback following foot surgery, but that has not stopped him remaining a topical subject
The former Juventus midfielder has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford whenever the transfer window reopens and United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is often asked about his future at press conferences, despite his long-term injury.
Pogba takes all of it with a grain of salt but admits he would maybe like to meet a few of his chief critics in due course.
“I guess they miss me, I don’t know? I’m not someone that looks always at Sky Sports News,” Pogba said of the continued attention on him.
“After the games, when I watch it again I watch the game, not the comments. When you know football, you don’t need someone to tell you what’s happening.
“One day maybe I will meet them [the critics] and ask them because I really want to know why. I am doing my recovery, I can be somewhere else and I hear something but I’m just doing my recovery, you know?
“If they want to speak they are allowed to speak, it’s their job to speak. I am used to it now. I am really used to it, it doesn’t bother me.
“It’s good to hear good stuff instead of bad stuff but when you play football, you know yourself. It’s what your manager and team-mates want, the rest is just talk. It’s selling stuff I think.”
