Paul Pogba: Manchester United midfielder refuses to answer on Real Madrid transfer speculation

United fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona on Wednesday night

Paul Pogba refused to discuss his long-term Manchester United future on Wednesday night, amid speculation of a move to Real Madrid.

United fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.

Pogba recently flirted with the prospect of moving to Barcelona’s historic rivals Madrid, admitting that it was a ‘dream’ to play for the club.

The 26-year-old made the comments while away with France during the recent international break, adding that he would like to work alongside compatriot Zinedine Zidane, Madrid’s head coach.

But Pogba refused to be so candid when asked about a potential to Madrid at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

“I am not going to respond to this,” he said. “I only talk about the match, not about other things.

“It’s always a dream to play in the Champions League against a team like Barça. Today we lost but next week we have to win.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the United manager, insisted before the meeting with Barcelona that Pogba would still be a United player at the start of the next season.

Solskjaer has previously dismissed Pogba’s comments about Madrid as the midfielder merely being ‘polite’, and said he spoke with the player on his return to the club from international duty.

Pogba remains hopeful of reaching the Champions League semi-finals with United, despite Luke Shaw’s own goal gifting Barcelona a slender first-leg advantage.

“We saw a team we can beat,” the midfielder said. “If you don’t believe that then you just let them go through. We believe we can beat them.

“We are Manchester United. They are Barcelona but we are Manchester United and we play in the Champions League like they do and we can go through of course.

“We are 1-0 down and now go to the Nou Camp but we believe chances will come over there. We have to keep believing.

“It is a Champions League game and we know we can hurt them as well as they can hurt us.”