Paul Pogba is NOT worth £86million says Paul Scholes, who defends Man United's decision to sell him in 2012

Paul Pogba is on his way to Manchester United

Manchester United target Paul Pogba is not worth £86million, former teammate Paul Scholes has said.

United will make Pogba the world's most expensive player when they complete the signing of the 23-year-old from Juventus in the coming days.

He is set to become United's fourth major signing of the summer and will pen a five-year deal worth £210,000-a-week after tax.

However, Scholes has baulked at the astronomical sum of money involved in the transfer, and believes only the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are worth fees close to £100million.

“I just don’t think he is worth £86million," Scholes told SportWitness. "For that sort of money, you want someone who is going to score 50 goals a season like Ronaldo or Messi. Pogba is nowhere worth that kind of money yet.”

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United received a paltry £800,000 in compensation when Pogba left to join Juventus in 2012 after growing frustrated with a lack of first-team opportunities at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson has been criticised in recent years for allowing the then-teenager to depart, but Scholes has defended Ferguson's decision to sanction his exit, claiming the player was asking for far too much money to sign a new contract.

Scholes said: “He was a very talented young player, I played with him and I knew how good he was. He played for the first team maybe once or twice, but from my understanding he was asking for too much money.