The Juventus boss was full of praise for the France midfielder after his showing against Napoli and ruled out a bid for Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli

Massimiliano Allegri has tipped Paul Pogba to emulate the achievements of countrymen Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini at Juventus.

The Frenchman opened the scoring in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Napoli and has been one of his side’s key performers this term as the champions target a fourth consecutive Scudetto.

After an impressive showing for Juve at the Stadio San Paolo, Allegri sees no reason why he cannot achieve similar feats to those of France greats Zidane and Platini.

Zidane won world and European honours on the international stage, with Platini also claiming the latter prize, and both earned two Serie A titles in Turin.

“I hope that Pogba is able to come close to achieving what Zidane and Platini achieved at Juventus,” the Juve coach told RAI of the 21-year-old, who already has two Scudetti to his name.

“He is still very young, and has all the quality to do so.

“He scored a wonderful goal [against Napoli] and played reasonably well after the goal, but I think he has the quality to do much better.”

Allegri has also ruled out a potential move for Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli.

The former AC Milan boss revealed his admiration for the striker, whom he coached during his spell at San Siro, but says he is not a realistic target for Juventus.

He continued: “I think this [reports of a bid] is a made-up story.

“Balotelli has done very well with me but he belongs to Liverpool and he is not a player that can arrive at Juventus.”