Jose Mourinho sprung a huge surprise on his teamsheet for Manchester United’s trip to Sevilla by leaving Paul Pogba on the bench.In United’s previous four matches, Pogba has been substituted twice, been named on the bench once and was a late withdrawal from the squad due to an illness.And against Sevilla, he was replaced by 21-year-old Scott McTominay in the starting XI.Suddenly, the reports suggesting the relationship between Pogba and Mourinho was at boiling point were looking more and more realistic.Ahead of the game, Mourinho explained why he was starting the inexperienced McTominay ahead of Pogba in such a massive match.

MOURINHO EXPLAINS HIS SELECTION

"Because McTominay is working hard every day, he is feeling good and strong, he played the last match for 90 minutes and Paul last Saturday wasn’t able to play and this is the kind of game where I think a player must feel 100," Mourinho explained.

“We are going to play with 3 midfielders and Paul can play in one of the two roles where Herrera and McTominay are going to play.

“Paul created some doubt by not playing on Saturday by his own decision, he was not feeling good and that created some doubt.”

While Pogba had to sit and watch - well, for the first 17 minutes before he was brought on for the injured Ander Herrera - McTominay was playing in the biggest match of his career so far.

The hostile Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán certainly isn’t the easiest place to ease your way into the United side but McTominay definitely didn’t look out of place.

In fact, his performance was so accomplished that he had plenty of United fans talking - and they were all making the same point.

His calmness in possession and stature in midfield had plenty of United supporters claiming he’s the new Darren Fletcher.

MAN UTD FANS THINK MCTOMINAY IS THE NEW FLETCHER

Check out the reaction:

Some fans might question whether being compared to Fletcher is actually a compliment. But the Scottish midfielder was often Sir Alex Ferguson’s go-to player whenever United had a big match.

He played 340 matches for the club, winning five Premier League titles, one FA Cup and one Champions Leagues. If McTominay has half the United career Fletcher had, he’ll be very happy indeed.