• France coach says midfielder has plenty to offer • Pogba has been left on the bench by José Mourinho

The France coach, Didier Deschamps, says Paul Pogba “cannot be happy” with his treatment at Manchester United.

Pogba, who has been called up by Deschamps for France’s forthcoming friendlies against Colombia and Russia, has missed a number of pivotal games for United in recent weeks after a largely underwhelming season at Old Trafford.

The midfielder did not feature when José Mourinho’s side beat Liverpool in the Premier League, came on as a late substitute in the Champions League defeat by Sevilla and was absent against Brighton in the FA Cup. Indeed Mourinho has recently turned to the 21-year-old Scott McTominay for midfield cohesion, praising the home-grown player as “humble” and adding the former academy player does not seek “headlines or flashes”.

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However McTominay’s promotion has led to Pogba seeing less game-time and, according to the France coach, life is difficult for the 25-year-old who cost £92.3m when he returned to the club in 2016.

Deschamps told L’Equipe: “This is a situation that he must not appreciate because of everything he would have been able to offer. There must be numerous reasons. He cannot be happy with what he is going through with his club.”

Pogba returned to United from Juventus 18 months ago and won the Europa League and League Cup last season. However, he has found life tougher in this campaign, making 27 appearances for Mourinho, scoring the last of his three league goals in November against Newcastle.

Deschamps added: “It’s not specific to Paul. It can happen elsewhere that a player is a bit down or is going through a particular situation with his club.

“That could be Paul now, or others at other times, and I will do as I always do and talk to that player to understand better, because I don’t have all the information.”