One the surface of things, it would appear that Jose Mourinho has put all of his eggs in a Paul Pogba shaped basket. The mercurial Frenchman started in Manchester United's opening day win against Leicester, captaining the side in the absence of Antonio Valencia.
The World Cup winner seemed to restore the faith put in him by Mourinho with his performance on the night, with a penalty in the 2-1 win the icing on the cake for the midfielder, who left the field to a standing ovation in the 84th minute.
Though despite the victory, the relationship between Pogba and Mourinho still seems rather icy, and ij Pogba's post match interview he seemed to hint that there was still some friction between the pair:
You have to know one thing: a player that gets chosen and is happy, you always feel more comfortable than when he's not happy. That's all I say.
If you're not happy, you cannot give your best.
When pressed on whether he was happy and comfortable at the club right now, the midfielder stated:
There are things and there are things that I cannot say otherwise I will get fined.
After the win, the former Juventus player said that "I always give my best for the fans, for the team mates and for the people who trust me," which appears to be a slight dig to his current manager, Mourinho often benched the £89 million player last season.
Asked about his commitment to the club, Pogba again seemed to have a subtle go at Mourinho stating: "like I said I always give my best for the fans, for the team mates and for the people who trust me."
During the World Cup Mourinho praised his player as France lifted the World Cup, but even in his praise there was an allusion to Pogba's patchy United form, with the Portugese saying that he hoped that Pogba understood why he was effective for his national team:
I think the future for him in the French national team, amongst that fantastic group of players, can only be brilliant, and I hope that he understands why he was very good.
Following the Leicester win, Mourinho again praised Pogba, calling him 'a monster' for completing 80 minuted despite a short preseason, but there still appears to be resentment on Pogba's end as to how he is being treated by his manager.
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