Pogba yearned for Juventus

Juventus teen prospect Paul Pogba said his desire to join the Serie A leaders blossomed over the off-season.

Fresh from scoring his first goal in Juve colours during the team’s 2-0 victory over Napoli on Saturday, the 19-year-old highlighted the role former France and Juventus midfielder Patrick Vieira played in helping him select his destination of choice, once he decided to depart Manchester United.

“There were other teams interested in me over the summer, but I wanted to sign for Juventus,” Pogba told Sky Sport Italia.

“Many French champions have played here. I spoke to Vieira and he advised me to come to Juventus.

“I’m really happy and proud of my first goal in the black and white stripes. In those moments you don’t think about anything. You try to shoot and that’s all.”

Joining the France Under-21 international on the scoreboard in Turin was defender Martin Caceres, who similarly came off the bench to make an immediate impact.

“I’m very happy about my goal, but above all for the victory itself, which came at the end of an even and difficult game,” added the Uruguay international Caceres.

“I’d like to congratulate everyone on the success.

“Once again we showed that our strength lies within the team. This particular game isn’t decisive as far as the Scudetto’s concerned however. There are still many games to go before the end of the season.”

Napoli’s defeat saw Antonio Conte’s men open up a three-point gap at the top of the league over the Partenopei, and playmaker Marek Hamsik said they will need to learn from the defeat.

“We need to reflect on this result, and then forget it, because it is a painful one,” Hamsik said.

“We could have done more up front. We weren’t as dangerous on the counterattack as we know we can be.”