Robson: Pogba Can Be World's Best

Bryan Robson, Manchester United's record signing back in 1981, speaks exclusively to ManUtd.com about the club's capture of midfield superstar Paul Pogba...

Where does the arrival of Paul Pogba rank in terms of the club’s record signings?
Well, he’s a terrific player. When he was at the club, he showed great ability and he’s got a good attitude. He went to Juventus and has matured, he’s come on as a player, and I think it’s a really good signing. If you look at the age of him, 23, we’re buying a young player which is good.

Is the fee just a sign of the way sport in general is going?
That’s it. You have got to go out and buy the best players if you want to compete with the top teams. It’s why we’re having a real go this summer and are supporting Jose Mourinho in the market. That’s great to see. We’ve always been classed as the best club in the world, up there competing with the top teams, and it is what Manchester United are all about. We’ve got to be up there challenging the best teams, especially considering our standing around the world as we are probably the most famous club. We have got to set those standards and stay there.

Does it say everything about our status that we’ve managed to lure a player such as Paul even though we’re not in the Champions League this season?
Many players will still sign because they will see the ambition of the club and where we want to be again. It is a great signing and the good thing about Paul as well is he knows everything about the club, what the standards are and it will just show everybody in the world we are wanting to compete with the Real Madrids and Bayern Munichs of this world. The type of signings we’ve made this summer show we want to get back there.

It’s fair to say every top club wanted Paul so we’ve beaten off some stiff competition…
We will have done, yes. Okay, the price had to be right but he is one of the best players in the world. We just hope he performs and goes on to prove he is one of the best midfielders on the planet.

He has the ambition to win the Ballon d’Or. Is this an achievable aim for him?
Yes, it is achievable. He’s got the presence and has got the ability. We just hope his team members give him that mantle where he can go on and prove himself as one of the best footballers in the world.

Given he's 23, do you feel we’ll be seeing his peak years at United?
That’s the good thing about him. We’ve always been known to buy players around the 21-24 mark so we get them for the best part of their careers. The age we've bought him at, 23, is perfect. There will be a little bit more improvement in him but he’s got the ideal stage to go and prove that now.

He's played and lived here before of course - presumably that will help him adapt?
That's another good thing for the manager - there’s no settling-in period for Paul. He knows all about the club, having been here before.

Did you manage to see much of Paul playing for the Reserves and Academy teams when he was here?
Yes, I saw him quite a bit. I wasn’t in a managerial job at the time so I used to go in and watch training sessions. I saw him train with the first team for, more or less, a full season and saw him play a few senior games too. I know him quite well and he’s got a good temperament and trains hard. He's a great signing.

How do you envisage him fitting into the midfield? He played deeper for France in most of the Euro 2016 games and it didn’t seem to suit him…
No, I don’t see Jose using him the way France used him at the Euros. I think he’s more of an attacking player. He can make things happen further forward up the park. I would have thought Jose would use him somewhere further up the field where he can try to create and score goals.

He often played as a no.10 at Juventus in his last season in Turin…
He did and, over in the Italian league, it’s a difficult position to play but he made it work. He was very influential on the Juventus team so hopefully he can have the same influence on United.

Jose has managed to get the four signings he wanted so he must be impressed with how things have gone so far at the helm…
Yes, the business has been done well before deadline day this summer. That's a good thing, it gives the manager the chance to quickly get a settled side as we head into the season.

Do you think there is great anticipation about the start to the Premier League season with fans thrilled by the four new signings?
I think the crowd are excited about going into this season with the changes the club has made. We hope the signings improve us because we needed to improve to be challenging the best teams.

Would you now consider United to be one of the favourites to win the league title?
Yes. When you add the new signings to the players we already had at the club – the youngsters like Martial and Rashford should improve again this season and the top-class international players - it looks a nicely balanced squad at this moment in time. Everyone should be quite excited going into the season.