Zlatan Ibrahimovic has admitted Paul Pogba didn’t “feel confidence” from Jose Mourinho and says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is now letting the midfielder do “whatever” he wants.
Ibrahimovic spent a season-and-a-half with the pair at Old Trafford before joining LA Galaxy in 2018.
Pogba assumed control of the United dressing room when Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney departed, but the Frenchman’s relationship with Mourinho turned toxic towards the end of the Portuguese’s stint.
Solskjaer has revived Pogba’s career at the club since replacing Mourinho and Ibrahimovic admits Mourinho and Pogba were barely on speaking terms.
“There are these players that need to be free, they need to feel free to do what they are able to do under the disciple of the coach.
“Obviously, he has his tactics, he has that, but some players they go above these limits, and you need to let them be free, and I think Paul [Pogba] is one of them.
“Paul didn’t feel confidence from the coach, and the coach didn’t feel confidence for Paul.
“It’s difficult to perform as a player if you don’t have confidence from the coach and you don’t have that energy, that motivation, and Jose felt the same thing about Paul.
“These things happen, and that is part of the game also; I mean, not everybody can go among each other and do well together.
“I feel like you come to a moment where it is too blocked and one goes or the other one goes. At this moment, the coach left, and Paul is more free now,” Ibrahimovic told ESPN.
