He may have said his goodbyes to Manchester United under a cloud, but Paul Pogba's relationship with Red Devils talisman Cristiano Ronaldo remains stronger than ever.
The French midfielder failed to truly live up to expectations since he returned to Old Trafford for the second time in 2016. The World Cup winner cost the club a record fee of £89million but he fell remarkably short of justifying that fee during his time in Manchester.
Pogba was one of the most high-profile figures at the club during a turbulent last season that saw the Red Devils finish with their worst points tally of the Premier League era. Another, undeniably more famous face within the dressing room was Ronaldo - meaning reports of a rift between the pair as they jostled for power within the ranks became common.
However, they were the furthest thing from the truth, as exhibited by Pogba's passionate defence of Ronaldo after his finest performance of the campaign against Tottenham - in which the 37-year-old netted a hat-trick.
"He [Ronaldo] has never been a problem. You have the best striker in history in our team, he cannot be a problem. Today the performance from him and all the team was very brilliant," said Pogba.
"Everybody knows Cristiano – there's no need to talk about him. That's what he does. He didn't play in the last game, but he comes back and scores three goals. Everybody's happy."
It has since emerged that the affection was not only one way, with The Athletic reporting that Ronaldo viewed Pogba as one of the few United stars he could depend upon when things got tough.
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The Portugal skipper even wanted to link up with Pogba while at Real Madrid due to the 'variety and quality' of the midfielder's passing ability. Both were viewed as figures to look up to and turn to for advice for the younger players in the squad. Ronaldo was even convinced by United's former number six to be more engaging and patient with others in the dressing room.
The Red Devils bid farewell to their ex-academy star in a statement that read: "Pogba's final season at the club started off in hugely promising fashion, with an astonishing four assists in our opening-day thrashing of Leeds United, but more injury problems would ultimately derail his ambitions.
"It was a low-key end to a United career that had brought so many individual high moments, so many beautiful goals, assists and pieces of skill. But for a boy that joined the Academy at 16 to make over 200 United appearances and lift the Youth Cup, along with two major pieces of silverware – not to mention the World Cup at international level – is something that should be applauded and celebrated."
United's statement confirming Pogba's departure seemed to reference the fact that the 29-year-old has been a man of fleeting moments of brilliance rather than helping the collective.
