Jose Mourinho has defended Manchester United ’s world-record signing Paul Pogba and insisted he will soon justify his £89million fee.

Midfielder Pogba produced another invisible display in United’s 1-0 Europa League loss to Feyenoord on Thursday, on the back of a poor showing in the Manchester derby defeat last weekend.

But Mourinho, who admitted Pogba has been short of his best on the night , defended United’s decision to break the world transfer record to sign the 23-year-old from Italian champions Juventus this summer.

“The world record fee is always a question that will be open until somebody breaks the record,” said Mourinho.

“But there are clubs that paid £20million, £30m or £40m, which is a bigger deal than what United paid for Paul, because you make a relation between what you pay and the club revenue, and you realise that other clubs paying £20m, £30m or £40m is a much bigger thing than what we did.

The midfielder's headline-grabbing return to former club United has not started well... (
Image:
PA)
...and he is already getting flak online from frustrated Red Devils supporters (
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Action Images via Reuters)

“I just want Paul to forget that and to play his football. He had no-pre season, played in the final of the Euros, had a holiday and then came back. It’s normal that in the first week he had the very good impact he did in the first game.

“It’s normal that after the first game he has a little decrease, but I’m full of trust with him because I know the player he is, I know he’s a very good guy with a lot of ambition.

“So the form will come naturally and will come with the team improving. When the team improves, he will improve. No problem.”

Former United midfielder Paul Scholes claimed Pogba is doing too much to justify the record outlay on him and told the France international to keep things simple if he wants to be effective.

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“It’s been a bit of a struggle for him so far,” said Scholes, now a pundit for BT Sport. “It’s very early days, but I don’t know what position he’s playing in. He seems to be a little all over the place.

“He’s trying to do too much on the ball. He’s trying to beat three or four players, a lot of the time he’s running with the ball.

"Just keep it simple now, ease your way in.

“That’s not the player United bought — they didn’t buy a Lionel Messi to beat five players and stick it in the corner all the time. They bought a powerful, strong midfield player who can take the ball.

"He’s got the skill, he can pass it forward, he can run. Just get past players... one, two touch... stick the ball in to Zlatan and run - nobody can live with that.”

Legend Scholes suggested Pogba is trying TOO hard after teaming up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic (
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PA)

United could find themselves six points behind Premier League leaders and local rivals Manchester City - who host Bournemouth on Saturday - by the time they kick off at Watford in Sunday's early game.

But Mourinho is refusing to panic, despite suffering back-to-back defeats, insisting the title race has barely begun and that there is no concern over trailing at this stage.

“You are right, it’s early days,” he said. “I would prefer to be four points in front than four behind, that’s obvious, but it’s very early days.”

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