Pogba under pressure

Rio holds key to Pogba future Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that influential Reds veteran Rio Ferdinand could be key to Paul Pogba staying at Old Trafford. The young French midfielder has been stalling over a new United deal with rumours linking him with a move abroad. But United boss Ferguson said: "Rio has become an important figure at the club. He is good with the players. He is good with the young players. At the moment, he is working hard on the boy Pogba and talking to him. The young boy is unsure. But Rio is well regarded." And Ferguson has paid tribute to 34-year-old Ferdinand for altering his own game. "The thing that has been hard for Rio is that having had agility, speed and athleticism when you get to 33 you have lost a bit, maybe 10 or 15 per cent," he said. "So he has to change his game. He does the yoga now which is good. He has to adjust his game. I said your pace is not always going to get you out now so you have to read the game better now and he is doing great. He is doing better than he has ever done. It is all a matter of coping with an ageing player. We have done it with Ryan Giggs. He does yoga. Scholesy is back and is lovely and fresh. If you look after yourself you can get the rewards like that." All of the national newspapers also cover Sir Alex's Radio 5Live interview with DJ Spoony from last night with the Daily Mirror proclaiming on their front page that the boss will never quit United. The Daily Telegraph pick up on the line that the manager's future has an impact when discussing new contracts with his staff. "They all ask," said Ferguson. “The players or their agents ask the chief executive and the way David [Gill] answers is I have no intention of retiring at the moment and therefore it’s not a question we need to answer, because we do not know. We’ve never discussed who would take over. That is a dangerous game. We need someone with experience at United. No doubt.”