Juventus vs Palermo preview - Pogba deal welcome news for Juve

Posted Saturday, October 25, 2014 by PA

Juventus return to Serie A action on Sunday at home to Palermo buoyed by the decision of star midfielder Paul Pogba to sign a three-year contract extension.

The 21-year-old Frenchman is now tied to Juventus until June 2019.

Pogba, who was named the young player of the tournament at the World Cup in Brazil in the summer, moved to Turin two years ago on a free transfer from Manchester United.

He has formed a solid partnership with Italian veteran Andrea Pirlo, which has contributed to Juve's back-to-back Serie A titles.

Juve captain Gianluigi Buffon was delighted with the news.

The experienced goalkeeper said: "Pogba's renewal is an important sign. It's great news for us, for Juve fans and for Paul."

Pogba started for Juve on Wednesday when they fell 1-0 at Olympiacos in the Champions League, a result that has left the Italians third in Group A behind Atletico Madrid and the Greek outfit.

The result stretched a frustrating spell for the Bianconeri, who dropped their first points of the Serie A season in a 1-1 draw at Sassuolo on Saturday.

Juve are one point clear of Roma at the top of the Italian standings, with the Eternal City giants playing at Sampdoria on Saturday.

Palermo gave themselves a shot of confidence last weekend when they beat Cesena 2-1 for their first league victory since gaining promotion to Italy's top flight earlier this year.

"We truly deserved this win," Palermo coach Giuseppe Iacchini said. "We dominated the game and gave a much better performance than in our previous encounters."

The Sicilians are 16th in the standings, with six points from seven games.

The visitors travel to Turin at full strength with Paraguay midfielder Edgar Barreto recovered from injury.

Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri is without the services of injured defenders Martin Caceres and Andrea Barzagli while midfielder Simone Padoin must serve a one-match ban.