Ole Gunnar Solskjaer heaped praises on Paul Pogba and called him “one of the best midfielders” in the world ahead of Manchester United’s first Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur on Friday since the resumption of the competition on Wednesday.

“Of course, I want the same from Paul as from all the others, that we give our best and Paul is one of the best midfielders in the world. So, of course, we expect him to gradually improve as he gets more and more game time,” the club’s official website quoted Solskjaer as saying.

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The Norwegian also expressed his desire to have Pogba back to playing full 90 minutes at the earliest and said that the team would benefit from his experience and leadership skill on the ground.

“I don’t know if it’s 45 minutes this time, is it 60, so gradually, over the next few months, we can work him up back to his best, because Paul has had a very, very good career. Of course, he is a World Cup winner and we want to have that leadership on the pitch as well,” he said.

Pogba, however, returned to full-fledged training with teammates after the Premier League players were allowed to resume practice. He also featured in a practice match with other teammates at the Old Trafford earlier this month. It was his first appearance at Old Trafford since December 26.

The World Cup-winner with France, Pogba, was sidelined before the footballing season was stopped amid the growing concerns of the situation caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Pogba was at his usual best in United’s Premier League season opener against Chelsea before getting injured within the first 30 days. It took him nearly a month to be back against Rochdale in Carabao and Arsenal in Premier League.

But he was forced to go out again for another month. He made a solid comeback against Watford in the festive period before a surgery took him out again from which he is yet to make a comeback.