Ahead of his transfer from Chelsea to Manchester United, Nemanja Matic spent the weekend in a Manchester hotel that his new club would prefer not to be the centre of attention every time their players stay there.

Meanwhile, a picture of him in a United shirt went viral on social media; it had been taken at United's Carrington training ground but its release was unfortunate given that, at the time, his signing had yet to be announced. Later on Sunday, Jose Mourinho talked optimistically, but far from definitely, about Matic signing. The news was finally confirmed on Monday.

Mourinho enjoys an excellent relationship with the Serbian midfielder. He trusts him and, with club captain Michael Carrick having just turned 36 and unlikely to be able to play 50-plus games in the coming season, United's need for a central midfielder was clear.

Matic cost £40 million, a fee that makes him the sixth-most transfer between English clubs -- six of the top seven have involved Manchester clubs -- and while his arrival might not excite fans like the signing of a goalscorer such as Romelu Lukaku, his arrival will help free up attack-minded players, especially Paul Pogba.

"In some games, Paul Pogba has been in the wrong place and it has stifled his abilities which United bought him for," former United forward Brian McClair told ESPN FC. "At Juventus, he played in a three on the left-hand side, which allowed him a lot of freedom to get forward. He also had Patrice Evra playing as a left wing-back and he had great energy going up and down the left-hand side. That allowed Pogba an outside ball because Patrice would overlap; it also allowed him to move right and have a shot. He has a hard, accurate shot.

"So United need someone who sits there behind Pogba, who played his best football when Michael Carrick also played last season," McClair continued. "Carrick looks to pass the ball forward and that allows Pogba to play higher up the pitch. Michael is coming to the end of a wonderful career, so United need someone who can do something similar but who will be more mobile in the coming years. In the short term, I could see that someone like Matic would fit in and that's why Mourinho is interested. He'll give you seven or eight out of 10 every game. Worst case scenario, he'll give you a six. He's consistent."

Matic, who'll hope to do better than other recent midfield signings such as Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger did at Old Trafford, turns 29 on Tuesday.

"Ideally at Manchester United, you want the club to be signing younger players who will develop into a [Nemanja] Vidic or a [Gary] Neville or a [Cristiano] Ronaldo, but it's not always possible to bring that player in. It's not possible at the moment."

McClair, who scored 127 goals in 472 games during an 11-year United career, was the club's head of academy when Pogba first joined as a 16 year old.

"People look at Paul's physique and compare him to Patrick Vieira," says McClair. "Like Paul, Patrick was a very skilful and athletic midfield player, but he was more defensive minded, though he could play forward when he got the ball. Pogba's attributes are all about attacking; he's more like Lionel Messi than Vieira. Pogba can find a pass, beat a player and has fantastic skills. He can score goals. For him to have the best opportunity of success at Old Trafford, Paul Pogba needs to be playing in the final third of the pitch as much as possible, whether that's him on the ball, running into positions or shooting."

Pogba also needs to find his range and score more goals but, as McClair noted, Ronaldo's early days at Old Trafford saw him never afraid to have a go at shooting or beating a man, but failing more often that he succeeded.

"There is such a thing as trying too hard," says McClair. "Pogba will have external and internal pressure with regard to the transfer fee and the fact that he'd been at United before and then done so well at Juventus. But it's easier to go to Juventus as a young player who cost nothing and just play. The price tag means that he's now subject to a huge amount of analysis in the television media, the written and audio media too. Maybe Pogba has tried too hard to please and meet the expectations, but maybe it will also be easier for him in his second season back at Old Trafford."

Pogba has become arguably the most important figure in the United dressing room after the departures of Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It was Pogba who took the captain's armband when Michael Carrick went off in Oslo on Sunday, rather than Ander Herrera as might have been expected.

"Zlatan and Wayne leaving could actually help Pogba," says McClair. "They were a huge influence and maybe he'll step into the void left by them. Pogba is a confident, without being arrogant, lad."

As for the pressure he is under, it's not like Pogba hasn't been subjected to intense scrutiny before.

"He was castigated in the 2016 European championship because he came into the French team with very high expectations and he didn't have a great tournament," says McClair. "That can happen. Unlike last season, he's had the summer off and done a full preseason. There have been plenty of huge transfers, too, and while the scrutiny will still be there, other players will also face it. I'm really looking forward to watching Paul Pogba this season."

He's not the only one.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by ANDY MITTEN

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]