Jose Mourinho is understood to have been bemused at Paul Pogba’s strong suggestion that all was not well between him and his manager on Friday night at Old Trafford, with the player having voiced no complaints personally after his return to the club that week.

Mourinho is expected to address the issue when he next speaks this week ahead of the game against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, although it is understood that Pogba’s words came out the blue for the United manager. Mourinho recognises that he can be provocative at times in a bid to get a response but expects his players to raise any issues that they have with him to his face.

The pair get on well together, Mourinho believes, and his remarks were constructive and fair. There have never been any clashes on the training ground. Having suggested Pogba has lacked focus during his time at United, Mourinho would have expected any comeback from the player before that first game against Leicester for which the player returned to the team ahead of schedule.

Pogba had trained with the squad for the previous three days before the Leicester City game and was made captain on the night which Mourinho felt was enough of a signal of faith in the player despite the comments by both sides over the course of the summer. When asked after the game whether he was happy at the club, Pogba said, in remarks published on Sunday, that “There are things I cannot say, otherwise I will get fined.”