Paul Pogba believes Bruno Fernandes is in a similar position to the one he was once in at Manchester United and says the midfielder would be a Ballon d'Or contender at another club.
Having joined United as a 16-year-old from Le Havre in 2009, it was in Italy with Juventus where Pogba would make a name for himself, opting to leave Old Trafford for more opportunities in 2012 and then returning four years later as the world's most expensive footballer.
He won four Serie A titles and was a Champions League finalist in his four years at Juve, but in six years back at United, he would win only the Europa League and League Cup and regularly face criticism from sections of both the club's fanbase and the media for a perceived lack of impact for an £89million player.
Pogba, though, is not sure he could have done more than he did, pointing to the players around him at the time and drawing comparisons to Fernandes, whose contributions are also regularly debated despite the team- and often league-leading statistics he posts.
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The Portuguese moved to 18 assists for the season when setting up Matheus Cunha in the 1-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday and now needs three more from the final five games to break the Premier League record for the most in a single campaign.
He has also been the club's top goalscorer for each of the past two seasons.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast about his time at United, Pogba could not help but draw a comparison.
"We had a great team. Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) came, (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan also, you know, we had a really good team.
"But in one team, you have 11 players, you know, and I'm sure that I should have done more, but I don't know if I could have done more.
"I mean, I'm not comparing, but can Bruno Fernandes do more than he does now at United?
"Do you think Bruno, if he's in another team, he's not in the top three Ballon d'Or players?
"For me, you put him in City, he's in the Ballon d'Or three.
"With the stats this season, the way he plays and everything, but when you don't win, we don't think about you. It's like that, this is football."
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Fernandes can do everything
Pogba went on to mention Fernandes in the same breath as some of the world's most highly-acclaimed midfielders and dismissed criticisms of the 31-year-old, saying 'they need to find somebody' to blame at United.
"He's not physically the same as me, he cannot jump and recover the ball like I would do, but he can do everything. He can do everything. Like I said, Bruno Fernandes, in other big clubs, is in the top three Ballon d'Or.
"We talk about Kevin De Bruyne. We talk about (Luka) Modric, talk about (Mesut) Ozil. Talk about stats, stats. He scored more than (Frank) Lampard in the season, as the same position, eight, ten, you know. He does more assists. He's everywhere on the pitch. He has a volume. He keeps running. He's smart. He can play two touches, one touch. He can shoot.
"They need to find somebody (to criticise), he's at United. They need to find somebody. But football lovers will always respect Bruno Fernandes. If you like his style, the way he plays or not, this is different opinions. But football players, they will understand that this guy is a top player."
You can watch Rio Meets Paul Pogba on the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel.
Topics: Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United
Mark Holmes