Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Paul Pogba's proposed world-record move to Manchester United is not motivated by money.
The Juventus midfielder left Old Trafford in 2012 due to a lack of first-team opportunities but now looks set to return for a reported fee of €110 million.
United are also likely to spend big on Pogba's salary but Ferdinand, who faced the pressure of living up to a £30m price tag when he joined the Red Devils in 2002, believes the Frenchman is motivated solely by his goal of becoming the world's best player.
"I speak to Paul," Ferdinand told the Daily Mirror. "I know him. For Paul, it's all about football. It’s not about money.
"The biggest thing for me and my family [when I moved to United] was not the money. It was: 'What's Giggsy like? What's Roy Keane like?'
"Paul's like that. He loves football. It's all about improving and being the best.
"When he left I asked him why and he said: 'I want to be the best player in the world.' He's on the right track."
Ferdinand says the biggest pressure on Pogba will not come from the weight of public expectation but from within United.
"[The transfer fee] is big pressure, but my biggest pressure wasn't on the football pitch at Old Trafford," he added.
"My biggest pressure was on the training pitch with those players. It was walking into the dressing room knowing that they were thinking: 'What does £30m get you then? Can he win us the league? Can he help be the bedrock of this team?'
"That's the pressure that I felt most when I went into Manchester United, and putting that pressure on myself to write myself into the history of the club through success and winning trophies."
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