Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has confessed he is looking forward to working more with the “extraordinary “Paul Pogba after the midfielder returned to training.
Pogba is yet to feature under Rangnick after a hamstring injury suffered on international duty in November sent him to the sidelines, and he was not initially expected to return to action for at least another month.
However, he surprisingly popped up in a training photo from Cristiano Ronaldo on Monday, and although Rangnick has now confirmed Pogba is back in action, he insisted that the Frenchman still needs time to build his fitness.
“Paul Pogba had his first day of training with the whole group yesterday and in the first session he showed what an extraordinary player he could be,” Rangnick said. “Pogba won’t be available for selection in either of this week’s games, though.”
He continued: “I don’t know [about Pogba’s contract]. I can’t answer, I’m not dealing with this. What you could see from the first day in training yesterday is that he’s present, he’s physically present and he’s mentally present.
“What I saw in training yesterday was very promising for the future and I’m very much looking forward to having him available in two weeks’ time after the international break.”
Rangnick, who also confirmed that he expects forward Anthony Martial back in training after the pair ‘resolved’ their issues stemming from his recent omission from the squad, also offered an update on Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Brentford.
“It was the same with Marcus, so we have to wait for the training session today. Right now, I think both could be available.”
“Cristiano and Marcus were training yesterday, so I suppose they will also be training today, but at the press conference before the Villa game, I was also convinced that Cristiano would be available and in the end, he wasn’t. It was the same with Marcus, so we have to wait for the training session today. Right now, I think both could be available.”