Manchester United management of Paul Pogba is working perfectly

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Paul Pogba is in unstoppable form after his influential role in ending Manchester United’s semi-final hoodoo.

United are all but in the Europa League final after thrashing Roma 6-2 in the first leg at Old Trafford, where Pogba scored the fifth with a header.

The midfielder was unfortunate to concede a 13th-minute penalty when the ball struck his hand but Pogba rallied to score just his fifth goal of the season.

Despite a lowly goals output, Pogba has enjoyed an excellent calendar year and is poised to start in his fourth final for United in Gdansk, Poland against Villarreal or Arsenal next month.

Having been dropped following the first three Premier League matches of the season, Pogba’s form ironically improved after his agent Mino Raiola vowed to engineer a transfer on the eve of United’s Champions League group defeat to RB Leipzig in December. Solskjaer, who coached Pogba as a teenager in the reserves, has managed the Frenchman tactfully throughout his time back at United.

“I’ve managed Paul the same way all through,” Solskjaer said. “He knows my feelings for him and about him, he knows how important I think he is for the team.

“I want him fit, I want him running, because with his qualities, when he’s fit, he’s unstoppable. I think I need to keep him away from our defensive box, as he knows himself as well! He said he needs to practice his tackling and defending.

“We create an environment here, same as I spoke about Edinson [Cavani], we want to create an environment where players want to play, they want to come into work every day.

“The coaches are unbelievable, the way they prepare for games, the environment they’re creating. We want players to enjoy coming to work, and to play for us. And when we play like this the boys are enjoying themselves.”