What Is Next for Juventus If Massimiliano Allegri Leaves for Chelsea?
Chelsea's managerial search has landed in Italy.
Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri is earmarked as owner Roman Abramovich's favourite, with Italian outlet CalcioMercato.com (h/t David Wright of the Daily Express) reporting the Londoners have agreed a four-year deal.
Nothing official has been announced by either party, nor should there be any expectation. There are still a handful of managers linked with Stamford Bridge's dressing room, but if speculation is fact, and Allegri is to exchange his position with Juventus for Chelsea, the Italian side would be left in limbo.
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Allegri took over at Juventus Stadium in 2014 from now-Italy manager Antonio Conte (also linked with Chelsea, as documented by the Daily Mail's Kieran Gill), winning the Scudetto and Coppa Italia in his first year.
This season did not begin as expected, with the four-time defending champions beginning their Serie A defence in 15th place after six matches, but Allegri has rallied his troops. Twelve consecutive wins have catapulted Juve from 12th to second position, just three points behind leaders Napoli, who visit Turin on February 13.
Mirroring Chelsea's horrific start, Juventus suffered a possible case of "Golden-Badge Syndrome" but were able to correct themselves without sacking Allegri and are Europe's best side on current form. The appeal to having that manager, witnessing what has transpired in London, makes sense for Abramovich—but if you are Juve president Andrea Agnelli, not so much.
Conte's reign started with an invincible title, and contained four more domestic trophies. After he left to manage his country, Allegri (who enjoyed both success and failure with AC Milan) was recruited to replace what was left behind. Juve allowing an under-contract manager to leave could have repercussions.
"#Chelsea contacted Allegri and his representatives at the start of the month, and have been encouraged by what they heard. [The Sun]
— Chelsea HQ (@Chelsea_HQ) January 28, 2016"
Serie A has rapidly improved in the five seasons since Juventus' dominance began, so hiring a third successive, successful manager carries the risk of a mistake. Allegri's style has connected with Paul Pogba, Claudio Marchisio, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chellini and others—disrupting that apparent chemistry could backfire.
That said, one cannot make all their decisions based on the worst-case scenario. If Allegri to west London is plausible—an acceptable assertion at the present moment—Juventus require a contingency plan.
The Old Lady have had just one non-Italian manager in the past 42 seasons (Didier Deschamps in 2006/07, returning Juve to Serie A after a match-fixing scandal). It would stand to reason, therefore, an Italian would continue this streak.
A slight issue exists, though: Outside of Conte—who might be convinced of returning after UEFA Euro 2016 with more transfer power—no world-class Italian manager is available to coach (one suspects Fabio Capello would dispute this claim).
What happens after 2015/16 in terms of sackings/"mutual consents" might release this notion, but if February is when Chelsea are planning to raid all available managerial options, Juventus must keep pace.
Juve must hope Chelsea's attention is diverted elsewhere—possibly to Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone—rather than focusing/settling on Allegri.
Situated in an affluent corner of London, playing in the world's largest domestic sporting competition and having the proverbial bar set relatively low after a shocking 2015/16, Allegri would be well within his rights entertaining Stamford Bridge; that idea must worry Agnelli and his constituents.
As world superpowers prepare to descend on Pogba and Paulo Dybala this summer, Juventus cannot lose Allegri and expect to maintain their stranglehold on an ever-improving Serie A.
*Stats via WhoScored.com; transfer fees via Soccerbase where not noted.
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