Pundit and former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, has stated that world record signing Paul Pogba is a "commercial dream" but insisted that he needs to couple that with success on the pitch.
No good if you don't win
Pogba was one of the word's most successful young players before his record return to the North West of England, but since then the Pogba brand has gone into overdrive.
It came to boil during the 1-1 draw with Liverpool, with the introduction of the Frenchman's own Twitter emoji but that campaign came under fire when the 23-year-old failed to perform on the day.
Ferdinand recently criticised the social media actions of Pogba and Jesse Lingard, Ferdinand stated that the midfielder is commercially "viable" but still needs to show success on the pitch to go that next level.
“Time will tell with Paul but he’s a commercial dream," Ferdinand told the Daily Mail. "He smiles all the time, he is happy rain or shine, and he is always animated.
"Commercially he is just so viable," the defender stated. "He’s perfect in that sense. And he’s got the confidence to pull it off. Then the question is, whether he is going to win."
Ferdinand continued, "Because people will always say that it’s no good being a commercial success if you don’t win. Once he becomes a winner at United, he will go up another level.”
Times are changing
Since the criticism of Pogba in that social media video, the 38-year-old has since talked to him on the issue and has come to realisation that the landscape of football has changed with the rise of social media.
"Since those comments, and I have spoken to Paul about them," he said. "I've had time to think and we are in a different era now.
"But times change," the defender admitted. "In a lot of ways, I like old school stuff in terms of my professionalism with football.
"But with the social media element," he conceded. "I was over here [gestures] to everyone else at the beginning.
"So I understand it," Ferdinand concluded. "And what it means to the players to have a social media following and to be active on social media."
Manchester United will take on St Etienne in the last 32 of the Europa League at Old Trafford on Thursday, February 16 with kick-off at 8:05pm GMT.
