Paul Pogba hopes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is given the Manchester United manager’s job on a permanent basis.

The former Red Devils striker has had a transformative effect on the mood and results at Old Trafford, leading United into the Champions League quarter-finals and to the verge of the top four in the Premier League.

When Solskjaer was given the role following the departure of Jose Mourinho, it was widely assumed he was merely keeping the seat warm for a bigger managerial name, but his success has led to a clamour for the appointment to be made permanent, and midfielder Pogba has now added his voice.

The Frenchman told Sky Sports: “Of course we want him to stay. The results have been great. I have a great relationship with him, he has a great relationship with the players.

“When a player is happy, he wants to keep being happy. Solskjaer deserves it. He knows the club, he knows everything about the club.

“He is a really happy coach that gave confidence back to the players. This gave us the freedom to play and enjoy football again because maybe we lost that with the results that we had before.”

It is a striking contrast to the final months of Mourinho’s reign, with Pogba the player who was repeatedly claimed to be at odds with the Portuguese.

He declined to elaborate, saying only: “Maybe we lost confidence, maybe things went wrong. A lot of talking outside that we weren’t used to.

“I don’t like to talk about the past. I like to talk about the future because that’s what matters. We are better now and the results have been brilliant.”

Pogba did, however, make reference to how pleased he is to be playing regularly under Solskjaer when asked about the prospect of joining Real Madrid.

He insisted he was happy at United even though he was an admirer of the Spanish giants, who are looking to rebuild under newly reappointed coach Zinedine Zidane.

In remarks carried by French newspaper L’Equipe, Pogba, speaking at a press conference ahead of France’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Moldova on Friday, said of the links to Real: “It’s a dream for every child, for every football player.

“Today, I’m in Manchester and I’m happy. We have a new coach and I play. After, we do not know what the future will tell us.”