Graeme Souness played down Paul Pogba's impact in Manchester United's 5-1 win against Leeds on Saturday, instead hailing Mason Greenwood as the "star of the show".
The Red Devils opened the new Premier League campaign with an impressive display at Old Trafford.
Bruno Fernandes' hat-trick and Pogba's four assists made the two midfielders standout performers as they rolled over Marcelo Bielsa's team, while Greenwood and midfielder Fred also chipped in with goals.
What has been said?
But ex-Liverpool midfielder and manager Souness, who has been a frequent critic of Pogba's, said the France star's input was to be expected from someone the club paid a then-record transfer fee of €105 million (£89m) to sign in 2016.
"For me, yesterday the star of the show was Greenwood. For a young boy, I thought he was sensational," he said on Sky Sports .
When fellow pundit Micah Richards laughed and pointed out that Pogba had made four assists, Souness replied: "We expect that from a £100 million man.
"I was going to get around to the point. They spent £70-odd million on [Jadon] Sancho and maybe that might be something to look back on and think: 'Do we need to spend that money?' Because that boy is a player, is a finisher and I think he's going to be a top player."
Come on Graeme pic.twitter.com/kxRan1QE5A
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) August 15, 2021
Souness' opinion seemed to irritate former United centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who took to social media to express his disappointment.
Replying to a Twitter post of the Scot's comments, Ferdinand wrote: "Come on Graeme."
Will Pogba stay at United?
Despite the 28-year-old's crucial role in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team, his future continues to be the subject of speculation.
Pogba has entered the final year of his contract at United and it has been reported that he is willing to let it expire and leave for free next summer.
But there is some optimism around Old Trafford that he will indeed commit to a new deal with the club, as Solskjaer said on Saturday that he thinks the midfielder can be persuaded.
Meanwhile, ex-United star Paul Scholes believes the progress the team has made will convince him to stay, saying: "I think he’ll end up signing a new contract. If this team carries on in this manner, progressing like it is – I don’t want to get too excited – but it’s a team that can go on and win trophies and that’s what he wants to do."