Juan Mata has sympathized with the burden teammate Paul Pogba has had to deal with due to his large price tag.
Pogba joined Manchester United from Juventus during the summer for a world record fee believed to be in the region of around £89million and although the midfielder has made a positive impact for the Red Devils, it would be fair to state that he has not quite been able to justify the enormous price tag.
Teammate Mata, however, does not think that Pogba should constantly be judged on the basis of his transfer fee and has defended the 23-year-old by saying that the French international is not a 'machine'.
Mata told the Daily Mail: “I imagine it's not easy.
“These big transfers come and the expectation is so high. Sometimes people lose perception of the reality and we are not machines.
“It's not that they paid that money for you and you have to score every single game.
“Messi and Cristiano are two, and that's it, there are no more. We are humans, we can only play the best you can, try to be a good professional and then the rest will come."