Led Napoli to the title in 2023
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Juventus Turin has apparently found a successor for coach Igor Tudor, who was fired on Monday. Former Italian national coach Luciano Spalletti is to receive a contract with the Old Lady until the end of the season, which can be extended via an option if he re-qualifies for the Champions League. As of Monday evening, the talks had not yet been fully concluded, reported Italian reporters Gianluca Di Marzio and Alfredo Pedullà, among others. However, the 66-year-old is said to be open to the offer.
Spalletti had trained the Squadra Azzurra until last June. However, after direct World Cup qualification was cast into doubt by a 3-0 defeat in Norway, he was replaced by former world champion Gennaro Gattuso. At club level, the native Tuscan most recently worked very successfully for Juve’s arch-rival SSC Napoli until the summer of 2023. There he won his first Scudetto, but subsequently left the club to take a break.
In Serie A, Spalletti has also been on the sidelines for AS Roma and Inter Milan, among others. The football teacher, known for his meticulousness, who had established an outstanding defensive and offensive system in Naples, is the more experienced variant compared to the also traded Edin Terzic and Raffaele Palladino, who once became a professional at Juventus.
Spalletti receives approval from Juventus fans on Transfermarkt
The proposed solution was largely met with approval in the Juventus forum on Transfermarkt. User “Curva_scirea” writes: “Spalletti is (if he really comes along) the right choice given the sparse options. We now simply need someone who has enough experience and broad shoulders to be able to manage such a miserable overall situation with a reasonably high probability. The time for experiments is finally over, as tempting as the idea of a kind of Conte 2.0 with Palladino may sound likes.”
Predecessor Tudor had to leave after a 0-1 defeat at his former club Lazio. The Old Lady have been without a win in eight games in a row across all competitions, have lost the last three and have not scored in the last four. In Europe’s top leagues, Juve is one of five teams that have failed to win their last eight games. Tudor took over the Bianconeri at the end of March and replaced Thiago Motta after 42 games in office. For him, it’s over after 24 games with an average points score of 1.58. At Motta the average was 1.67 points. Under Tudor’s leadership, Juve secured fourth place in the final spurt of last season and thus into the Champions League.
His contract was subsequently extended until 2027 with the option of a further year. For the time being, reserve coach Massimo Brambilla is stepping in on an interim basis and will look after the team in the duel with Udinese Calcio on Wednesday (6:30 p.m.).