Manchester United: Ryan Giggs backs under-fire Paul Pogba to come good

Paul Pogba possesses all the qualities needed to be a "brilliant" midfielder for Manchester United, Red Devils legend Ryan Giggs has said.

Pogba, 23, has come in for criticism for some of his recent performances for United, including in the club's 2-1 win over Southampton in the EFL Cup final at Wembley.

The France international has made 25 league appearances for the Red Devils after being signed for a world-record £89m ($109m) transfer fee from Juventus last summer, scoring just four goals.

Giggs said people were expecting too much out of Pogba in his first full season in the Premier League as a result of his world-record transfer fee.

"I have never seen a 23-year-old midfield player dominate games for a whole season, so the £90m that they paid is obviously what people focus on and talk about," the ex-United winger was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"He will become a brilliant footballer, there is no doubt about that.

"He's scored seven goals, not many midfielders at 23 will do that, but because he cost so much he's compared with that price tag, when actually he's done okay this season. Okay, not brilliant, but not really bad."

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said earlier this week that Pogba had not improved the defensive side of his game over the course of the season despite being frequently used as a deep-lying midfielder by United boss Jose Mourinho.

"He's still nowhere near good enough or disciplined enough to play in that central midfield role," he told Sky Sports.

"He's a liability defensively, there's no doubt about that. They should have lost the EFL Cup final. Against one of the top sides I think they would have lost that game and Pogba was one of the reasons why."

Pogba is expected to start for United against Russian club Rostov in the Europa League round of 16 first leg on 9 March.