Ryan Tunnicliffe is hoping he can have the reverse effect on Manchester United superstar Paul Pogba tomorrow night at Kenilworth Road after the World Cup winner praised the Luton midfielder for helping him settle in at Old Trafford when they were teenagers.
The pair were partners on the pitch and close off it when they were in the youth set up at Premier League giants and tomorrow night they could face off against each other when Luton Town host the Red Devils in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Their paths have been very different since their days at Carrington, with Pogba departing to make his name at Juventus before a £90million return to Manchester, while Tunnicliffe left for Fulham, ironically making his Whites and Premier League debut against his former club.
Loans to Wigan and Blackburn saw him eventually move to Millwall and then last summer, as a free agent, switch to Luton.
Pogba has previously said that Tunnicliffe helped him with his English when he moved to Manchester from France as a teenager, and ahead of tomorrow’s cup clash, the Hatter said of his old United pal: “Being a World Cup winner is something you only dream of as kids, so for that to happen to him is amazing, but when he first came to the club he was a good lad. He was loud, but I’d been there quite a while so anything I could’ve done to help him (I did).
“You see how good a player he is when you try to get around him. He was my midfield partner so we tried bonding a relationship off the field and to improve on the field, so it’s nice of him to say that.
“I think I’m quite a nice guy, so if he thinks I helped him, then I was more than happy because he’s gone on to do great things, so if I can take a slight bit of credit for that, then I’m happy.”
Tomorrow, the Mancunian will be hoping he can take some credit for keeping Pogba and co quiet when his unbeaten Luton side take on United for the first time since 1992, in the old first division, eight months before Tunnicliffe was even born.
“I think everyone can see that he’s world-class,” he said of the Frenchman, adding: “I played alongside him quite a few times. It was a while back so to play against him will be quite fun for me, and I’m sure he’d say the same as well.
“I’ve studied up on players that I’ve come up against, so I’ve seen him in training. But he can probably say the same thing about me.
“I’m not the player I was when I was 17 and I don’t think he is. He’s obviously improved a lot and got bigger, stronger, so I have an idea of the things he can do, but it’s up to me to stop it and see if I can stop it.”
After featuring 40 times last term for Town, Tunnicliffe has become something of a forgotten man since manager Nathan Jones’ return to the club, having to make do with one appearance this season in the Carabao Cup win over Reading in the previous round.
Pogba, in comparison, generates headlines on and off the pitch and Tunnicliffe said: “You see the haircuts he has and people want to focus on that. You get players like that over the years, and players like that now, that people want to nitpick and find faults, just to get on him, really, which is wrong, but that’s the world we’re living in at the moment.
“Anything he does is magnified. If he gives a stray pass it’s magnified, but knowing him as a big enough character, that won’t affect him. I’m sure he’s not too bothered by it.”
