Ex-Manchester United assistant Rene Meulensteen says Paul Pogba has struggled without playing alongside the likes of Andrea Pirlo and N'Golo Kante.

Pogba thrived playing with Pirlo at Juventus before leaving in 2016 for United, where has struggled to perform consistently. He also formed a strong partnership with Chelsea star Kante as France triumphed at the 2018 World Cup.

And Meulensteen believes Pogba needs a similar level of player to help him at Old Trafford.

"He clearly struggles to dictate the game if he doesn't have good enough players around him," Meulensteen, who was assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford when Pogba made a senior breakthrough, told Training Ground Guru.

"With Juventus and France, he did extremely well but had players like Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal with him in Turin, and N'Golo Kante for France.

"The pace of the game is also much slower in Italy than it is in the Premier League, where it's constant action and you have to be urgent both in and out of possession.

"If you look at some of Pogba's best games for United, they've been alongside Ander Herrera. The two of them are complementary.

"Herrera gives Pogba the platform to get in the box and play those searching passes because he keeps the balance.

"He's able to stop the fires, is mobile, can pick the right passes and has really good game understanding.

"I don't think the other central midfielders we've seen have been able to provide that same platform."