Man United need Pogba – Irwin

Paul Pogba and his fearlessness are crucial to Manchester United’s success, insisted former defender Denis Irwin.

Pogba was heavily linked with a move away from Old Trafford, Real Madrid and Juventus reportedly circling the United star before Monday’s transfer deadline.

United struggled last season as they finished sixth in the Premier League but Pogba led the way – the France World Cup winner scoring a team-high 13 goals and 16 across all competitions.

Pogba also supplied nine Premier League assists and Irwin emphasised the importance of the 26-year-old midfielder.

“There’s not too many players of Paul’s quality,” Irwin said. “He’s got plenty of players in front of him who have got great pace and I think he’s got the understanding of being able to pick a great pass.

“We need consistency out of him sometimes but going forward now and particularly where we’ve started dominating games he’s going to be a big, big player for us.

“I think every team needs a risk taker but I look at him and think he’s the one that can unlock doors.

“We’ve created enough chances to win games so he’s going to be vitally important for us.”

 @PaulPogba will miss @EquipedeFrance‘s matches against Albania and Andorra through injury. #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 2, 2019

Pogba and United made a flying start to the season, routing rivals Chelsea 4-0 in their Premier League opener thanks to a pair of assists from the Frenchman.

However, United have since drawn twice and suffered a shock loss at home to Crystal Palace to already be seven points off the pace.

Irwin added: “I understand that we’ve only picked two points up from three games but it feels like we should have a lot more.

“We might have to accept a little bit of patience and we might not challenge the top two this year but certainly we need to be up there and better than last year.”