Juventus vice-president Pavel Nedved has defended their handling of Paul Pogba's knee injury.

Pogba is out of the World Cup after the Frenchman initially refused surgery when suffering the setback in preseason.

Nedved said, “We cannot force a player to undergo surgery, even if he is a dependent and we are paying him.

“He chose conservative therapy, it did not go well, then he had an operation and that didn't entirely fix it either. We had hoped he'd be playing now, so did he.

“He was meant to come back November 5 and then play the World Cup. Perhaps he made the decision not to go to the World Cup a little late, but he remains a great person and great player."