Former Manchester United boss fell out with Paul Pogba over his Instagram
Sunday 3 March 2019 12:28, UK
Jose Mourinho says Ivan Rakitic is "one of the most underrated players in the world", but joked he needs to improve his social media presence.
The former Manchester United manager had a training ground spat with Paul Pogba in September over the France midfielder's Instagram, after he stripped him of the vice-captaincy.
Following Mourinho's sacking in December, Pogba posted a cryptic tweet - which may have been pre-scheduled and was quickly deleted - that some felt was a dig at his departing manager.
Mourinho told BeIN Sports after Barcelona's 1-0 El Clasico victory over Real Madrid on Saturday that match-winner Rakitic, who has 13.8m Instagram followers, is not given the praise he deserves.
He said: "Before I leave, let me say something. I've wanted to say this for a long, long time: Ivan Rakitic is one of the most underrated players in the world.
"I just wanted to finish on that because normally we speak about the big names.
"For me, Rakitic needs to improve his Instagram and his social media because in this moment this is very important and he is not very good on that, he is good on the pitch.
"He's a fantastic player at every level. He does defensive work on the right hand side to compensate Messi, he runs miles.
"In ball possession, he's fantastic, he's simple, and he's effective. He is one of the most underrated players."
