Ole Gunnar Solskjaer convinced Paul Pogba will stay at Man Utd after Real Madrid transfer 'chat'

Getty Images

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has held talks with Paul Pogba in a bid to finally end speculation linking the £89million midfielder with a move to Real Madrid.

And Manchester United’s manager is convinced the World Cup winner is committed to Old Trafford.

Solskjaer is adamant he won’t allow Pogba to be at the centre of a transfer saga after both the Frenchman and Real manager Zinedine Zidane publicly expressed their interest in working together.

“It doesn't really concern me because my thought of action then is to sit down and speak to Paul,” said the Norwegian. “And I’ve had my chat with Paul and we're fine.

“He's going to do his utmost here because he knows I'm very fond of him as a player and a person and he is important for us. There is no issue. He’s important here.”

Zidane plans to overhaul his squad after returning to the Bernabeu for a second stint as manager this month.

The players Real Madrid hope Zidane can lure to the Bernabeu

1/6

Pogba is believed to be among a host of stellar targets for Real, including Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Eden Hazard.

Pogba revealed while on international duty with France that it would be a ‘dream’ to play under Zidane for the Spanish giants.

Zidane responded in kind over the weekend, saying: “I really like Pogba and you know that. I know him very well, he's a different kind of player and he can provide many things because of his skills. He knows how to attack and defend.

“However, he's not my player. He plays for United and we have to respect that. He's always said that he likes Madrid.”

But Solskjaer insists Pogba’s comments were innocent and that he will be a part United’s bid to overhaul Liverpool and Manchester City next season.

AFP/Getty Images/Paul Ellis

“I don't like to talk about other teams’ players of course but this is another challenge with international breaks,” he said. “Players are available all the time as well and it's a different environment, more of a general talk.

“Paul is a very nice and polite man who then answered a general question. Zidane is an icon in France, he is a a fantastic manager, he used to be a fantastic player – I played against him myself - and he's just politely answered that question.

“But Paul's happy here, he's going to be a big, big part.

AFP/Getty Images

“I have always said you would like to build your team round him and that hasn't changed at all.”

Solskjaer has set his players a target of 15 points to secure Champions League football next season.

United were 11 points adrift of fourth when he took over in December – but moved level with Tottenham after Saturday’s win against Watford.

Man Utd's Transfer Window shortlist

1/12

Ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Wolves, he said: “They know themselves they want to be in the Champions League. Maybe they didn’t believe it themselves in November or December last year, but we're in with a chance.

“Everyone knows now if we do our jobs, say 15 points then in the last seven games, we'll be in the Champions League next year.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in