Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has declared himself a fully-paid up member of the Lionel Messi fanclub.

Speaking in an interview with TyC Sports, the Frenchman admitted that the Barcelona superstar’s name is synonymous with football – and that in the diminutive Argentinian’s case, size doesn’t matter.

“The first time I was with him was in the Champions League final [between Juventus and Barcelona in 2015], he was very small,” Pogba said.

“Messi and football are two things that go together. I enjoy watching at him, he does things that nobody does.

“He has a stature that nobody has, something special for him, everything is special. He’s a player who has football inside him, who feels it, it’s incredible.”

The 25-year-old also said that Messi is not the only player he has tried to impersonate or take inspiration from.

“When I was little I looked at [Zinedine] Zidane, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Messi. I had videos of [Diego] Maradona, Pele, Kaka, of many players,” he explained.

“I wanted to have all the virtues that those players had.

“Now, I look more at players like [Andres] Iniesta, Yaya Toure, also [Kevin] De Bruyne, who is young, [Luka] Modric, who is a very strong midfielder.”