Football
Arindam Rej, Man United Correspondent 8y

Manchester United's Paul Pogba to feature vs. Southampton - Mourinho

Paul Pogba will play "some minutes" for Manchester United against Southampton at Old Trafford on Friday night, the club's manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed.

Pogba, 23, is set to make his first Premier League appearance since re-joining United this summer in a world-record £89.3 million transfer from Juventus four years after leaving for the Italian club. The France international had been suspended for Sunday's 3-1 win away against Bournemouth.

"We played against Leicester [in the Community Shield] with players with less training than him and we saw that match [won 2-1] as a way to improve them and accelerate the process," Mourinho told MUTV.

"With Paul, it's a bit the same -- not one single minute of any preseason match, but almost two weeks of work with us, sometimes with the group, sometimes separately, and the condition is OK to play some minutes."

In his news conference on Thursday, the United manager added that Pogba needs time to understand the way his side plays, but the team's style of play will not change drastically to accommodate the midfielder.

"He has adapted really easily because he knows the club, knows everybody," Mourinho said. "He has no need to have time to adapt, but he'll need time to build his condition and his understanding of how the team plays and how he'll fit in with that.

"We are not going to play with five at the back because with Juventus he played with five at the back. We are not going for dramatic changes. But, yes, there are changes in details in the game where we will have to change."

Mourinho also confirmed that centre-back Chris Smalling is in consideration for the match against Southampton. The England defender had his preseason ruined by injury then was suspended for United's opening league game of the season at Bournemouth.

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