'World class' Pogba can lead Man Utd out of the wilderness... if he stays! - Neville

Gary Neville has backed Paul Pogba to assert his authority and become the player to fire Manchester United back to glory.

Pogba has been a controversial figure during his time at Man Utd following on from is move from Juventus back in 2016.

He has scored crucial goals and helped guide the club to Carabao Cup and Europa League glory in recent seasons.

However, he is often on the receiving end of criticism from onlookers for frequent poor performances.

Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from Jose Mourinho back in December, the France international has bagged 11 goals.

But before the Norwegian was in charge, Pogba endured a strained relationship with Mourinho which contributed to his lacklustre performances.

While Pogba remains a decisive figure at United who has been linked with an exit this summer, Neville has backed the midfielder to finally become a consistent player at the club if he stays.

"He is a leader. He's actually a good lad. Look, Manchester United are in the wilderness," Neville said on Sky Sports .

"When are Man United going to be successful again? When I think back to the mid 80s, Bryan Robson carried United through the wilderness. 

"He decided to stay with the club and he was rewarded in the early 90s with a couple of Premier League titles.

"Pogba has got the capability to carry United through this wilderness. I believe you can build a team around him. 

"What he has to decide is whether he wants to be that player who gets Man United back to the top again. He has the ability to do it. He is the one player in the squad who is world class.

"He looks distracted and his agent is always into him about getting away. Rumours of Barcelona and Real Madrid are real. He needs to give the club clarity. Do it quickly Paul so the club can move on."

However, not everyone was in agreement with Neville, with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believing he needs to become more consistent.

"I don't agree with you when you make the comparison with Bryan Robson," Carragher said in response.

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"My problem with Pogba is he came in as a midfielder and when you think of the greats like Robson, Roy Keane, Yaya Toure and Steven Gerrard - those people drove those teams on.

"My problem with Pogba is not whether he is world class, it's that he's either 9/10 or 4/10. Bryan Robson was 7 or 8 out of ten pretty much every week and sometimes better.

"There is no in between with Pogba. I don't think you can build a team around him because he's so hit and miss. Players who you build teams around are those midfielders I've already spoken about. You know what you are going to get every week."

Solskjaer's men were eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday after suffering 4-0 aggregate defeat to Barcelona.