Manchester United star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has stated that world-record signing Paul Pogba can handle the '24-hour pressure' on his shoulders.

Likes the pressure

It has been a glorious return to Old Trafford for the Frenchman, becoming the star man in recent weeks during the side's excellent unbeaten run.

However the biggest criticism of the 23-year-old was that he has gone missing in the big games so far, and many will say that was the case once again on Sunday in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

Pogba gave away the penalty which James Miner converted, and struggled to gain a grip on proceedings for the rest of the clash. Ibrahimovic saved a point for Jose Mourinho's side, and he insisted that Pogba can handle the pressure on his shoulders.

“Pressure is something I enjoy," Ibrahimovic told The Guardian. "I don’t know Paul personally to be able to answer that for him."

"But I think he likes it also," he stated. "Because without pressure we would not be on our toes at the top level."

"If you want to play at the top pressure is 24 hours," the striker stressed. "If you play well or better the pressure becomes even greater."

"So it’s something that we learn from," the Swede admitted. "And something we have to handle because we belong to the top."

Ibrahimovic added: "Paul belongs at the top absolutely and the pressure will be there.”

Part of the game

It was a historic week off the pitch for Pogba, with the youngster becoming the first footballer to have an emoji on the social media site Twitter.

That was widely promoted throughout the week and even on the hoardings throughout Sunday's game. Many have said that the constant distractions off the pitch have distracted Pogba, but Ibrahimovic insisted that it is a part of the modern game.

“I think football is like that today,” he told manutd.com. “With social media, the media building up the game."

"When I started to play football there was no social media," the striker proclaimed. "None of these things but it’s part of the game now."

"What is too much, what is too little? We don’t know," the 35-year-old admitted. "We just follow the game."

"We are professional, we train like always, try to do our best every game," Ibrahimovic concluded. "For Paul the [Liverpool] game was different."

Man United will take on Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday, January 21 with kick-off at 3pm GMT.