LONDON -- Antonio Conte has revealed that returning to Manchester United was Paul Pogba's "dream," but insists that Chelsea will make no special plans to stifle him at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Pogba and Conte enjoyed a productive partnership for two seasons at Juventus after the French midfielder decided to leave Old Trafford for Turin in the summer of 2012, winning two Serie A titles together.
And the Chelsea head coach remains a huge admirer of Pogba, who became the world's most expensive footballer when United paid £89.3 million to bring him back from Juventus last summer and produced his most impressive performance of the season in Thursday's 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce.
"He was born in England, in terms of the football aspect," Conte said of Pogba. "I remember when we took him from Manchester United.
"A fantastic player. A great player. He deserves [everything]. For him, to come back in Manchester United was his dream. I wish for him the best, but only after the game on Sunday."
Asked if he would make any tactical adjustments specifically to deal with the threat of Pogba, Conte replied: "We must pay attention to the whole team of Manchester United. In their team there are a lot of great players.
"One of these is, for sure, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic. A player I consider a fantastic player. But there are many, many players. We must pay attention, the whole team, together to their type of play and to find the right solution when we have the ball, and when we are without the ball."
United will face a resurgent Chelsea after Conte's decision to shift to a 3-4-3 system led to convincing Premier League wins over Hull City and Leicester, and the Italian says he is satisfied with the improvements of recent weeks.
"I'm pleased, because after many games where we conceded two or sometimes three goals we changed the system of play," Conte added. "I think that the team took a lot of benefit from these changes.
"The players found the right suit with this [system]. More compact. Above all, we haven't lost our danger in offensive situations. That's important. Also, we know we must continue to work to progress under this way.
"But I'm pleased. This week I've seen the right commitment, the right work rate from the players. I see players who trust in this system, this type of work."