Pogba and Griezmann could lead a Manchester United revolution - Bolt

Serial Olympic gold medallist and occasional footballer Usain Bolt says Manchester United should be building their team around Paul Pogba, rather than letting him leave.

Pogba has divided opinion at Old Trafford ever since joining from Juventus in 2016 and has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer.

But Bolt says it is the players around him at United who have been the problem rather than Pogba himself.

Speaking ahead of the Soccer Aid for Unicef match at Stamford Bridge, United fan Bolt said: “Pogba is a friend of mine and I am a massive fan of his and I think they need to build a team around him.

“When you watch him at Juventus and when he plays for France, he is outstanding because he has good strikers and people to play and run off the ball which he needs as a great passer.

“It doesn’t matter how somebody cuts his hair, as long as he comes on the field, he shows up.

“If you build the team around him and give him strikers who understand how he plays then he is going to do great.”

Pogba's international team-mate Antoine Griezmann is one of the names being tipped to join United this summer having revealed he will be leaving Atletico Madrid.

And Bolt would welcome his arrival, believing that Griezmann and Pogba could be the recipe for success that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer requires.

“Listen, it’s all over the place. It would be a proper signing because him and Pogba play very well together, play for the same country.

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"You never know. People will say whatever. Until it happens, I won’t get my hopes up.

“We just have to wait. We signed Daniel James. I don’t know how to look at that. He is quick. We have to watch and see how the rest of the season turns out."

Either way, it is clear United require some kind of overhaul this summer following the disappointment of finishing sixth in the Premier League last season.

Despite a strong start to his time in the Old Trafford dugout, Solskjaer is under pressure to deliver after a poor end to the campaign.

A repeat of last season's first half of the season, for which Jose Mourinho was sacked in December, could see the Norwegian out of a job just months after signing a three-year deal with the club.

And while Bolt is happy to see the defensive football of the Mourinho era gone from United, he is waiting on the calibre of the new arrivals at the club before making any kind of prediction.

“I feel like Mourinho didn’t play our style of football, that’s why it didn’t work out," he said. 

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"Watching Manchester United from the Fergie [Sir Alex Ferguson] days we were always an attacking team, no matter what was going on.

"Even if we didn’t put a good side out, they were always attacking. For us to be a defensive team was never going to work.

"For me, I wouldn’t say I am happy that he left, but I am happy with the style of football we are playing now.”

On next season he added: "It depends on who we sign this summer.

“I think we did okay last season but everyone got injured and even when they came back it was downhill from there.

“I think this year we can be in better shape, with a few new players, we should be fine. We need to be patient and believe, believe is our motto, so we just have to believe.”

Soccer Aid for Unicef will be broadcast live on ITV on Sunday, June 16, starting at 6.30pm BST. To donate to Unicef, visit socceraid.org.uk