Paul Pogba to Chelsea: £70m midfielder starts for Juventus despite transfer speculation, but suffers shock defeat

The France international could not stop his current side losing 1-0 on the opening weekend of the Serie A season

Paul Pogba (GETTY IMAGES)

Paul Pogba, a £70m transfer target for Chelsea, played for Juventus on the opening weekend of the Serie A season despite the ongoing uncertainty around his future.

The Independent understands that the Blues will spend the remaining days of the transfer window trying to persuade Juventus to let the France international leave.

Despite the interest, Juventus felt that Pogba was in the right frame of mind to play in their opening match of the season against Udinese.

It was a match in which the Serie A champions would slump to a shock 1-0 home defeat against Udinese.

Juventus, who have gone through the last two seasons without losing at home in the league, dominated the game as expected but were caught out when Cyril Thereau scored at the far post after 78 minutes.

It was a miserable start to a campaign in which Juventus hope to win a fifth consecutive title.

Juve's last home league defeat was against Sampdoria in January 2013, a run of 47 games.