London, July 23 (IANS) Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes that the English football club will be paying over the odds if they sign French midfield sensation Paul Pogba from Juventus for a proposed world record transfer fee of around $130 million.
Scholes is a fan of Pogba's abilities but said such a hefty price tag would suggest he is at the same level as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and he does not believe the 23-year-old former Manchester United player can be considered as good as the Barcelona and Real Madrid stars just yet.
"He was a very talented player. I played with him quite a lot. If you ask me, at that time his agent was asking for a lot of money for a player who did not play first-team football except once or twice. Okay, he has gone on to great things and there was a massive improvement in him," Scholes was quoted as saying by goal.com on Saturday.
"For that money, you would need a player who scores 50-plus goals a season, like Ronaldo or Messi. Pogba is not there yet. I just don't think he is a player worth 100 million pound-plus right now."
Man United chief coach Jose Mourinho has added Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to his attacking options for the forthcoming season and Scholes feels both men will have points to prove.
"I haven't seen much of Mkhitaryan but he seems to be a good player," he said.
"With Ibrahimovic, he was playing at PSG and there were a lot of chances created and it was easy to score in that league," Scholes added.
--IANS
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