Carrick: 'Pogba has a bright future at United'

Aftering suffering from both a lacklustre season and a cooling in his relationship with United boss Mourinho, there had been plenty of speculation mounting about the Frenchman's future at Old Trafford.

Yet Carrick, who recently retired from his professional player career to take up a coaching role at the club, was adamant that Pogba's future is at United and that the midfielder is set to excel in the coming years.

He told 'Sky Sports': ''Of course he's got a future, he's a big player for us, he's a great age, he's got his peak years ahead of him. It's not even something I'd give a second thought to, to be honest.''

Pogba aside, Carrick also commented on United's trophyless performance this season. He said: ''Like the manager said before the game, the manager isn't going to judge the team on one game.''

''We'll learn, we've managed to pick up trophies in the last few years, and obviously not winning one is not ideal for us. But we're looking ahead now, whether we'd won it or not you don't look back, we've got to look to next season and it has to be a big one for us.''

''We're not looking at City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, anyone. We're looking at ourselves to improve, we believe we're capable of improving a lot and we'll see where that takes us.''

As for his entry into the coaching world, Carrick admitted: ''It's a big challenge, the same routine in many ways but a different role. I'm really looking forward to it, I'm really excited, I'm well aware that just because you're a half-decent player it doesn't mean you're going to be the same as a coach.''

He concluded: ''I've got to put in the work, have to learn, start from scratch, and I've got the best man to learn from in Jose. I'm really looking forward to it."