Pogba thanks Mourinho for improving him as a player
The fallout between Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho ended expectedly with only one winner, but the star player later expressed gratitude to the sacked manager, which came as a surprise.
"I know you're waiting for something about Jose, about the result today," Pogba told reporters after their 5-1 win over Cardiff City yesterday morning (Singapore time), their first match under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
"Obviously, we are very happy with the result. We played well, the performance of the team was great and I know you want to ask me but, 'Oh yeah with Jose'.
"With Jose, we won trophies and I want to thank him for that. Not everything worked well but things went well, we won trophies.
"Winning trophies makes you improve as a person as well and that's it. That's the past. I want to thank him for that."
Under Mourinho, Pogba won the League Cup and the Europa League in 2016. However, the pair did not see eye to eye with each other and animosity grew.
The £89-million (S$154.6m) record signing was stripped of vice-captaincy earlier this season and was even left out of the first XI in Mourinho's last three league matches.
"I'm sure all the players are now looking to the next game, the points, and we have to go back into and we want to go back to the top of the league," added the World Cup-winning midfielder. "That's all I want to say. The performance of the team was great.
"We are happy the first game with the manager starts like this and the important thing now is to carry on like that. We cannot play like this and score five goals and then lose. That's it."
Pogba, 25, returned to the starting line-up under Solskjaer to play a key role in an impressive 5-1 win over Cardiff.
"Paul is capable of playing as an eight, as a 10, as a six so he's got quality to play many positions," said Solskjaer, who had worked with the Frenchman in a previous stint as coach of United's reserve team.
"I thought he did excellent."
Meanwhile, another former United player is also eyeing a return to Old Trafford.
Peter Schmeichel told the BBC that he is considering the director of football's role.
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