Rio Ferdinand says Paul Scholes used to 'launch' Paul Pogba during Manchester United training

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said Paul Scholes used to kick Paul Pogba, leaving him on the turf during training sessions at Carrington.

Pogba had two spells at United with his first coming towards the end of the Sir Alex Ferguson era between 2009 and 2012. During this period, both Ferdinand and Scholes were senior professionals with the Reds while the Frenchman was just finding his feet in professional football.

Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand insisted that Scholes' challenges on Pogba were 'character building' for the central midfielder. He explained: "You know young lads when they come over, the managers do like to see them get kicked about.

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"Paul Pogba was a young, super gifted player; Scholesy, in particular used to just launch him. Whether he used to see him as a threat I don't know but he used to launch him, just kick him.

"He was so big and strong Paul and with that great footwork and everything and he would hold Scholesy off and Scholes would just kick through him and he'd lay on the floor and go like: 'What's going on?' We just kept on playing, but that's part of it, it's character building."

Pogba would eventually leave the Reds for Juventus where he became a household name for his eye-catching performances. After four years in Italy, the World Cup winner returned to Old Trafford in 2016.

However, his spell was tainted with injuries and poor performances. Upon the end of his contract in 2022, Pogba would once again leave United on a free transfer and join Juve.

His return to Turin has not been positive so far, though, with injuries meaning he has only played three times this season. Pogba finally overcame his latest injury on