Saturday 17 February 2018 12:10, UK
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba will be a better player for all the recent criticism the Frenchman has had to face, according to Craig Bellamy.
Pogba's recent displays for United have been underwhelming, with the playmaker dropped for their Premier League game with Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford, before being substituted in the 1-0 loss at Newcastle United last Sunday.
Meanwhile, some reports have also suggested the player is unhappy with the position he is being asked to play in by manager Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese strongly refuted those claims in his press conference on Friday and Bellamy feels all the speculation around Pogba's future at Old Trafford will only serve to make the 24-year-old stronger going forward.
"This is good for Pogba because he has had a lot of praise, and rightly so, but sometimes as a player you need this as well," the former Liverpool and Wales forward told The Debate.
"He will know more than us why it is not going well and he will know for a fact that it is not going the way he wants it. But it is part of football as well, and it will be part of his development.
"And he will come through this period a stronger player.
"But I am conscious of the fact that this guy has been injured for two and a bit months during a season when he was playing brilliantly.
"It is very difficult to get back to that level during the season when the games just keep coming round. It is going to take time to get his rhythm back, a good seven to eight games, and he is still in that period.
"And the next three or four weeks, I expect him to be playing really well."
However, if there is one man who can now get the best out of Pogba, who cost United a then-world-record £98m in the summer of 2016, then that is Mourinho, according to Steve McClaren.
"Signing Pogba, he knew this is not going to be plain sailing, this will not be an ultra-disciplined player. You can see that in the way he plays, he is a bit of a free spirit," said the former United and England coach.
"But he is trying to rein that in for the good of the team and he will be as patient as possible. He will put his arm round him, but he will also hit him and say 'I have the power to put you on the bench and not play you'. Players do not like that.
"But believe you me, Monday to Friday he will be with him, he will have him in his office and on the training ground, other coaches will be working with him. And he will have him back to what he was before and even better."
