Manchester United cannot afford to lose Paul Pogba

Football legend Paul Scholes has warned his former club Manchester United that they cannot afford to lose Real Madrid target Paul Pogba during the summer transfer window.

The France international has publicly flirted with the La Liga giants, and Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has done little to play down a move. Several players are expected to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season, with Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Matteo Darmian and Antonio Valencia all out of contract.

However, Scholes is more concerned about the future of Pogba, who scored two more penalties in Saturday’s 2-1 win over West Ham United to take his goals tally for the season to 16 in all competitions.

“I think there was a time going back a few years, when if United lost a player, no matter how big a player it was, whether it was David Beckham, Roy Keane, Cristiano [Ronaldo] at times, it didn’t matter, it really didn’t matter,” he told BT Sport.

“But at this point now, if you’re losing Paul Pogba. He gets some stick for his inconsistency, we know that, but he’s still scored 15 goals this season. If you sell Pogba now, you’re selling your best player.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealed last week that his side were priced out of a move for Pogba when he joined Man United for £89m in 2016.