Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici has rejected talk of hiring Andrea Pirlo as U23 coach.

It's been claimed Pirlo will return to Juve to take charge of the Serie C team.

But Paratici says: "If we look at the history of our youth academy, coaches like Marco Baroni and Fabio Grosso are in Serie A and B, not to mention Gian Piero Gasperini came through here too.

“The U23 team is challenging for promotion into Serie B, have already won a trophy with the Coppa Italia Serie C, so we should leave them to work and not comment on these rumours."

Fabio Pecchia is currently in charge of Juve U23.