Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has challenged Paul Pogba to prove his critics wrong and ignore talk of a fallout with manager Jose Mourinho.
Pogba's future at Old Trafford has come under scrutiny in recent weeks following reports that his relationship with Mourinho has broken down, with the Frenchman being subbed off in two of his last three games and dropped to the bench for the other.
Mourinho has denied any rift between himself and United's record signing, though, and Parker believes that Pogba needs to be solely focused on proving his worth to the team.
"What he said when he re-signed was 'I am back to prove people wrong'. That should be his ethos now - to go out there and do it. The papers are talking about how he is telling Manchester United and Mourinho what he wants to do. Those kind of headlines shouldn't be there. People are either making it up or he has kind of said that to somebody and it has got out," Parker told Sky Sports News.
"His point should be I want to prove people wrong. He has come for a lot of money, the easy road out is to come out and say 'I am not happy and I want this and that'. The [best] way is to go out there and prove people wrong and go show them you can adapt, change and prove that what Manchester United paid is worth it because you are not a one-trick pony.
"When I have seen him his best position was with Juventus and with France on the left of a midfield three and with not too much [defensive] responsibility. We have seen him struggle with the defensive and positional sense but [that changes when] you ask him to go into the attacking areas.
"His feet are quick and he has a very good head on his shoulders in those areas because he can cross a ball better than most in the world when he gets in those areas. I sometimes think could he go and play that role around the centre forward when he doesn't have to worry too much about that discipline to help the fellow midfield player."
Pogba is now back in training after missing Saturday's FA Cup clash with Huddersfield Town due to illness.
Barney Corkhill
