This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Carlos Tevez spoke of his pride after being handed the iconic No10 shirt after signing a three-year contract with Juventus.

The Argentinian has completed a move to the Serie A champions following four seasons with Manchester City and before completing his medical in Turin he was pictured on the balcony of Juve's headquarters holding a No10 jersey aloft.

The shirt – made famous by Michel Platini, Liam Brady and Roberto Baggio – has been unclaimed since the veteran striker and former Bianconeri captain Alessandro Del Piero left Turin for Sydney FC last summer.

The 29-year-old, who cost an intitial £7.6m, told juventus.com: "I'm absolutely aware of the great effort Juventus Football Club has made to bring me here.

"I feel the responsibility of wearing this number and I am aware of the great responsibility of representing Juventus and playing for the club so this number is certainly a great challenge.

"Top players have worn it before and I was No10 with Boca [Juniors] before, and [Diego] Maradona played in it too, so the great responsibility is now that I'm going to play in this great club so certainly the greatest challenge is to do my best.

"Obviously I didn't want to forget Del Piero who was the last player to wear No10. He is a person and player that I greatly respect and who certainly represents an emblem and symbol of esteem. It is a great pleasure and honour to wear this jersey with his number."

Tevez has taken a brief break from his summer holiday in Argentina to join Juve and on his arrival at Milan's Malpensa airport on Wednesday afternoon he was mobbed by around 200 Bianconeri fans.

He is expected to return to South America after Thursday's unveiling to complete his holiday before joining the coach Antonio Conte and his team-mates for pre-season training on 12 July.

Carlos Tevez was mobbed by fans as he arrived to sign for Juventus. Photograph: Daniel Dal Zennaro/EPA

Asked how he would operate under Conte, who is also known for an explosive personality, Tevez responded: "With one word – respect."

He added: "I feel the Italian supporters are similar to the Argentinian ones because they really get involved with the club," he added.

"So I was not really surprised by the great welcome I received yesterday and I know that the Juventus supporters have showed great love and affection from the very beginning."

When asked about his immediate ambitions at the Juventus Stadium, he stressed helping the Bianconeri win a third straight Scudetto was a priority but he felt unable to promise fans instant success in Europe.

He added: "I do feel the obligation and desire to win the Scudetto with Juventus, and obviously everybody wants to win the Champions League.

"I do feel Juventus is now a very strong team so that is our dream, but we want to take it gradually and slowly."

Tevez was surprised at recent claims made by Milan's vice-president Adriano Galliani, who said the Argentinian had backed out of a deal to move to San Siro at the last minute.

The striker did admit he had talked to the Rossoneri during his six-month exile from the City team – a situation which arose from his refusal to warm up in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich in 2011.

"I want to be very clear and honest," he said. "I've only talked to Galliani a couple of times in my life. The last time was last year when there was an intention to bring me to Milan but I don't know why he has said such a thing.

"Today I'm here and that's what matters, I'm very happy to be here."