Turin (Italy), Jan 17 (IANS): Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini has likened former teammate and Manchester United star Paul Pogba to basketball great LeBron James and star sprinter Usain Bolt.

Pogba started out with Manchester United before joining Juventus in 2012. 

He enjoyed a successful stint with Juventus, winning the Serie A and the Italian Supercoppa and reaching the 2015 Champions League final before re-joining Manchester United in 2016 for a world record transfer fee.

Chiellini said that Juventus are missing the highly-rated midfielder who of late has been in good form for United. 

"We've changed players and now we are a side like any other," the Juventus and Italy defender told Sky Sport.

"We're not used to losing and, in addition to this, we've lost a player like Pogba who was the LeBron James of football and, even when you didn't notice him, he was impressive," the 32-year-old five-time Italian Serie A winner added.

"Pogba was our Usain Bolt -- he allowed us to play in a certain way. Now we've changed. We're working on it and (manager Massimiliano) Allegri is not an idiot."