London, England - Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic has told teammate Paul Pogba to embrace the pressure he is under and use it to his advantage, just as the Swedish striker has done throughout his trophy-laden career.
Pogba, who returned to United from Juventus for a world record fee of £89 million in August, has struggled to live up to his hefty price tag this campaign.
The France midfielder has come under further scrutiny following his underwhelming performance in Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Liverpool.
“Pressure is something I enjoy. I don’t know Paul personally to able to answer that for him. But I think he likes it also because, without pressure, we would not be on our toes at the top level,” Ibrahimovic told British media.
“If you want to play at the top, pressure is 24 hours and if you play better the pressure becomes even greater. So it’s something that we learn from and something we have to handle because we belong to the top. Paul belongs to the top, absolutely, and the pressure will be there.”
United, who are sixth in the league, 12 points behind leaders Chelsea, travel to face ninth-placed Stoke City on Saturday.