You’ve probably seen that Paul Pogba has been giving lots of interviews this week. Besides the English outlets, the Manchester United midfielder has also talked to ESPN Brasil, and he even tried to speak a bit of Portuguese.
As ESPN have also interviewed Zlatan Ibrahimovic not long ago, and the Swede said ‘Our relationship is simple: I talk, Paul listens’, they’ve asked the midfielder if it’s true.
“If he gives me advice, I listen to him,” said Pogba. “He’s older than me, he played with a lot of players. I think he doesn’t want the bad for me, he wants the best for me, that’s why he gives me so much advice. It’s good.”
Asked about a handshake with Usain Bolt which went viral on the internet, Pogba reveals he was the one who created it: “I taught him this. Now Usain is a top man. He’s someone who talks to me, gives me advice. I make him very happy because he’s a fan of football, and he’s a fan of Man United.
“You know, when I saw him, it was a surprise because he was a fan, and I was a fan of him, so, you know, it was kind of awkward. But after we just get on, and we just created the handshake, it was really good to see and he’s a really nice guy.”
After saying some words in Portuguese and revealing his admirations for players such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Pelé, Garrincha and Zico, Pogba said what he thinks of Neymar: “Neymar! Neymar is the future. He’s the present and the future.
“He’s a player who makes you enjoy. You known, I’m a player, I play football, but when I look at him, I just enjoy, he makes me enjoy football. I say ‘this guy is the man’, because he does skills, he enjoys, you know, he’s dancing.”
Questioned who are the next players who could win the Ballon d’Or after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, he said: “You never know with those guys. The future, I see… you can see Neymar, who’s young. Hazard is young. Reus… there are so many young players who can replace them, you know? You never know, but into the season you get injured for six months, for twelve months, you never know. I hope they won’t, but you never know what’s gonna happen.”
So the reporter João Castelo Branco asked him if he’d put himself on that list: “No. I don’t put myself. I don’t put myself. I just play. I play and the people will say that about me, I won’t say about myself.”
The 23-year-old also claimed he’s not satisfied with the form he’s in now: “The level will always go higher. You never get tired of getting better and working harder. So, me, I’m happy, I’m happy that it’s where I come from, it’s where I started, to be here, but that’s not enough, you want to carry on, become one of the best midfielders in the world and carry on doing this for ten years.
“Because otherwise you can do it for one year or two years, but it’s not enough, and after the last year you play very bad and you’re not the same one, you know? But you just want to keep it up and carry on growing.”
