Former England and Manchester City defender Danny Mills has accused Paul Pogba of thinking that he is bigger than Manchester United and does not believe that former Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson would have put up with the midfielder.

United fell to a shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, after which Pogba admitted that he did not go into the game with the right attitude.

Reports of a breakdown in the relationship between Pogba and Jose Mourinho have lingered around the club for almost a year now, but Mills suggested that the issue could lie with Pogba's ego.

"There has been a lot of talk of does Pogba stay or does he go? Who is bigger than the club? I don't think there is a particular issue between him and Mourinho. I don't really buy into that. I think there is maybe an issue between Pogba and the football club in terms of who is bigger," he told Sky Sports News.

"Is he causing one or two problems with the way he does things on social media? If it was Sir Alex I think he would be gone by now. But Sir Alex had the ability to bring in better players when he got rid of the likes of Jaap Stam, he brought in Rio Ferdinand.

"If Mourinho gets rid of Pogba he can't bring anybody else in. Also Ferguson had 10-15 years of trophies and experience at the football club and was the head honcho. He was in charge of everything but that is not what Mourinho does - he doesn't have that ability to do that.

"It is a difficult one. You have to play one of the world's best players if you have him in your squad but he is not playing well enough at the moment."

Ferguson allowed Pogba to leave the club for Juventus in 2012, only for United to re-sign him four years later for a then-world record £89m fee.