New Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes insists the club still have a ‘lot of confidence’ in Paul Pogba’s ability and that he is excited to play with the Frenchman when football resumes.

Pogba expressed a desire to move on to a new challenge at the end of last season, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ultimately convinced him to remain at the Theatre of Dreams for another year. His campaign, however, has been riddled with injuries which has seen him miss the majority of the campaign.

United seriously lacked creativity in Pogba’s absence which promoted them to bring in Fernandes from Sporting in a €55-million (£48m/$60m) January deal.

The Portuguese star has since inspired a turnaround in fortunes for the Red Devils, and some fans and experts have suggested that Pogba’s services are no longer required amid rumours of interest from Real Madrid and Juve. However, Fernandes acknowledges the fact that Pogba has had to shoulder the burden of expectations in a mediocre side, and still believes he has plenty to offer as a new era is ushered in.

When asked during a Q&A with MUTV how excited he is to play with Pogba, the ex-Sporting talisman responded: ‘A lot. A lot. I think we have a lot of good players in the midfield. Obviously Paul is injured from a long time [ago], and all we know is he has a lot of qualities.

‘We can say in football that people normally forget what you do good when you have a mistake. You can do good for 34 games, and one game you do bad and everyone will remember that.

‘Paul is coming from a bad moment, because of the situation. When he played also, the club and the team was not good, because the expectations are high for Paul, because Paul is a top player and Manchester United pay a lot for him, and expectations are a lot for him.

‘It’s normal when you are in that situation you don’t play like a superstar, because everyone expects from Paul like they expect from [Cristiano] Ronaldo at Juventus or [Lionel] Messi at Barcelona.

‘Everyone expects this from Paul in Manchester, because they know he has the qualities for this. Also this is confidence in Paul. The team, we have a lot of confidence in Paul.’