VERATTI HAPPY TO BE LINKED WITH JUVENTUS

Marco Verratti says Juventus' reported interest in his services is the source of great pride but claimed he is happy at Paris Saint-Germain.

The Italy international seemed certain to leave Pescara for Turin at the end of last season but he instead moved to Ligue 1 leaders PSG.Juve are said to still be tracking the 20-year-old, and Verratti is flattered the club he supported as a child are reportedly intent on signing him.

"The fact that a great club like Juve is looking at me makes me very proud," the midfielder told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"But, I repeat, I'm very happy here and I have no intention of changing (teams), at least as long as PSG feel that I'm a part of this big project.

"Of course, if I were to leave I'd like to return to a big side in Italy like Juve, but also AC Milan or Inter.

"Although I am, and remain, a Pescara fan, Juve are the club I have supported since I was a child. (Alessandro) Del Piero was my idol."

Verratti got the chance to play against another of his icons, Xavi Hernandez, on Wednesday, with PSG bowing out of the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals to Barcelona.

"We were so close," Verratti said.

"The result was in the balance right until the end. We contested two beautiful games.

"There has been a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth. But we're a young team. To go out without losing a game against the best in the world ... I am not saying that makes us happy, but satisfied, yes.

"In the dressing room the atmosphere was not the best, but we were aware that we had done our best."

Veratti also took some consolation out of the way in which he had held his own against some of the finest players on the planet.

"It's the dream of every child," he said.

"I was playing before five or six of my models. Xavi is the one which I'd most like to resemble."