Darmian who played alongside Pogba at Old Trafford thinks he has been unfairly targeted by the media, MySportDab reports.
Paul Pogba has received “a lot of unjustified criticism” throughout his second spell at Manchester United.
According to Matteo Darmian, who insists his old team-mate has constantly been totally committed to the club’s cause.
Pogba joined United from Juventus for a record fee of £89 million in the summer of 2016.
Since then has more often than not found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Pogba has contributed 31 goals in 143 outings for the Red Devils.
He has frequently been accused of failing to deliver the goods on a regular basis.
Pogba was at the beginning tipped to help United start challenging for the title and Champions League success.
However has only picked up Europa League and FA Cup winners’ medals since retracing his steps 4 years ago.
He has additionally been always linked with a move amid reported interest from Real Madrid.
He even admitted to being open to undertaking a new task back in July.
Darmian witnessed Pogba’s unique skills up close at Manchester United.
Never did i noticed any sign of the World Cup winner shirking his responsibilities or pushing for a transfer regardless of constantly being subjected to negative press.
“Pogba is my friend and I have an incredible relationship with him,” the ex-United defender informed The Guardian.
“First of all: we are speaking about a real champion here, a superb footballer.
However even they can have some periods when they don’t do as well as they would like.
“The actual problem with Pogba at United, I think, was the price the club paid for him and that conditioned the way people see him.
“There has been a lot of unjustified criticism towards Pogba for example, that he doesn’t work hard enough.
However he usually gave his best, I can assure you, in each and every training session.
“In my opinion, his performances were good in recent years, they speak about him too negatively in the UK.
“Did I see Pogba sad or willing to leave? No, I honestly didn’t see him sad or unhappy.
It was the opposite, for all the time I was in Manchester.
Pogba was really completely satisfied with his decision to go back there.
He actually cares about doing well at Manchester United.”
Darmian’s spell with Man United came to an end last summer, as he completed a move to Parma.
The 30-year-old is determined to earn a place in Italy’s squad for the European Championships.
The competition which has been pushed back to 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“I was lucky I could join Parma,” stated Darmian.
“Their sporting director Daniele Faggiano called me and enable me to return to Serie A.
I joined a good group of people and that always helps with everything.
“At the moment we are nevertheless focused on avoiding relegation, that is the main objective.
However it’s an ambitious club and that’s what convinced me to pick Parma so who knows what we can achieve.
“As for the national team, playing in the Euro in 2021 for Italy is something I prefer to do at all cost.”
