- Paul Pogba has been seen meeting up with Zinedine Zidane in Dubai this week
- Pogba is in the Middle East to undertake extensive rehabilitation on his injury
- Zidane happened to be in Dubai for an Artificial Intelligence in Sport conference
- Pogba will not have recovered in time to face United’s rivals Liverpool on Sunday
Manchester United talisman Paul Pogba has been pictured meeting up with Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane in Dubai.
Pogba is in the Middle East undergoing extensive rehabilitation on the troublesome ankle injury which has curtailed his season.
United fans may have cause to worry though, as the World Cup winner took time out to link up with the very manager he has expressed a strong desire to work under.
Paul Pogba has been seen meeting up with Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane in Dubai
Zidane is believed to have made Pogba his top priority transfer target at Madrid
While Pogba is working on his fitness, Zidane has been in Dubai as a guest attendee of the Dubai Artificial Intelligence in Sport (DAIS) Conference and Exhibition.
The pair were photographed meeting up, as revealed by the Mirror, at a beach resort.
Zidane, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, was seen chatting animatedly to Pogba.
As previously reported by Sportsmail, Zidane had made Pogba his top priority target in the summer and was believed to be disappointed that a deal could not be done.
Pogba has been in warm weather training at the Transform Altitude Performance Center
The midfielder has been working out with heavy strapping, as is not yet fit enough to return
Over the past months, Pogba has made little secret of his desire to play for Madrid, and has on several occasions admitted Zidane was his role model as a youngster.
The midfielder’s out-spoken brother, Mathias, has several times fanned the flames of speculation by speaking of how much Zidane wishes to sign his younger sibling from United.
He told Radio Marca in September: ‘Zidane wanted players, he didn’t get them, but I have no doubt that he’s going to do the work he needs to do in order to get the team back to the level he wants.
‘I like Zidane and he likes my brother – everyone knows it.’
Pogba has been in warm weather training at the Transform Altitude Performance Center in a bid to accelerate his recovery from the injury which will rule him out of Sunday’s derby game against bitter rivals Liverpool.
