Paul Pogba “gives off the wrong vibe as a Manchester United player” and needs to be moved on as he is no Roy Keane, says Teddy Sheringham.
The World Cup winner was returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 as part of a record-breaking £89 million ($110m) transfer package.
The intention was for the France international, who had achieved superstar status across four years at Juventus, to become a talismanic presence for the Red Devils.
United are still waiting on that to happen, with questions of form, fitness and attitude never far away from Pogba during his second spell in England.
Sheringham admits the 27-year-old has fallen short of expectations, with a talented individual lacking the ability of midfielders that went before him when it comes to leading by example.
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“The big one for me is Pogba,” former United striker Sheringham told Sky Sports.
“There’s been a lot of talk about him, when you mention top players, captains, when things weren’t going right in our time, Roy Keane put things right.
“He would drive our team on. He would dig deep, he would make sure we had a say in every game we played in, because of his desire, and I think when you look at Paul Pogba, does he have the same mentality?
“Yes he might be a talented boy, but does he really dig deep, does he get Manchester United out of the mire when the going gets tough?
“For me the answers are no, he gives off the wrong vibe as a Manchester United player.
“Yes it’s good to be cocky and arrogant at the right times, I would say Dwight Yorke had that with a big smile on his face, cocky and arrogant, but he had a desire to do things right as well at the right times, and I think you’ve got to have that.
“And I don’t think Paul Pogba gives you that, and I think he would be one that would need to go so that you can get someone else in with the right mentality and the right desire.
“The Manchester United way to drive your team on to make sure you get out of the position you’re in to move the club forward.”
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While speculation continues to rage around Pogba, United are considered to be heading in the right direction as a collective.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has seen his side offered cause for optimism, but Sheringham believes they remain a long way off the pace when it comes to challenging for the Premier League title.
The 1999 Treble winner added: “When you look at Liverpool and Manchester City, I think they’re a long way off.
“I like what Ole’s doing up there. I think there’s a nice feeling about the club at the moment, I think he’s had a very good starting period.
“He’s had an unsettling time, but I think he’s steadied the ship now, I think things are going in the right direction, but still a long, long way off challenging the top two for the championship.
“They need to recruit in the right manner, get the right people out as well, which isn’t easy when you’re at a football club, they need to be moving in the right direction.”