Paul Pogba has ridiculed those critics who claim he is overrated, pointing to his haul of trophies in his maiden campaign at Manchester United as proof of his talent.
The French midfielder became the most expensive footballer in history when he swapped Juventus for United last summer in a deal worth a record £89 million.
Despite it being his first full season in the Premier League, and despite United undergoing a massive transformation under new boss Jose Mourinho, the club still won the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League.
And Pogba has laughed off any suggestions of underperformance by either himself or the team, saying he pays infinitely more attention to his medal collection than what his critics say.
Asked about whether he felt United were ‘the worst team in the world’, as Mourinho had quipped after their European win, Pogba told Esquire: ‘We’re the worst team in the world, yeah. But we have three trophies.
‘So [laughs] people can say what they want. Are we the worst? OK, no problem, I accept that. I accept that we didn’t play well, we didn’t do this, we didn’t do that.
‘I know what we did — we won three trophies. That’s all I know. And that’s all that matters. Because you can be the best team in the world, you can play great football and you win zero trophies. And who remembers them? No one. Right?’
Pogba did, however, hint that his performances might not have quite been at the level he expects of himself, though was delighted on the whole with his first campaign back in Manchester.
He continued: ‘The worst player in the world wins three trophies! Haha! Yes, that’s fine. That’s fine, I accept it. The most over-rated, too much money, too much spending, everything you can say.
‘This guy, for the next month he will enjoy his holiday with his medal and the trophy — nice! And I’m going to the Champions League!
‘I’m quite lucky for the worst player in the world — I accept that, oh yes.
‘We can always be better and we’re learning. It was the first season with Manchester United, we changed the coach, we changed everything.
‘It’s different, I came in for a lot of money, so people will judge me on this, I knew it. People will always talk, good or bad. But I know what I can do.
‘If I play a bad game, I know I played a bad game. If I play a good game, I know I played a good game. So I don’t need anyone to tell me if I did good or bad — because I know it. But they [the newspapers] have to sell, so they have to speak. And to sell, they want to speak about me.’
COMMENTS