Juventus coach locks in Pioli? Elkan convenes a high-level meeting

Exor CEO, Comoli and Chiellini appeared in the Champions League final together. Senior executives will discuss the head coach (former Milan coach Pioli or Tudor) and the sporting director candidate (from Lopez to Masala).

In just two days, Juventus hit a wall one after another: first Conte refused, and finally chose Naples; then Gasperini, who decided to coach Rome. This is undoubtedly a huge blow to Juventus, and the Zebras rarely encountered such rejection before. The club is now working to revive its momentum, despite the challenging process. They are still evaluating Tudor's potential successor, who is expected to remain until the Club World Cup from mid-June to July. In the vision of new general manager Damian Comoly (who has started operations, awaiting formal appointment) and George Chiellini, an idea that had been discussed within the Zebra Legion a few months ago, after the Jontoli era was over. "Old Woman" reconsidered Stefano Pioli, who currently coaches Saudi Arabia's Riyadh victory and is also the main goal of Atlanta after Gasperini left office. The two sides have had some indirect contact. In the next few days, Comoli will decide whether to strive for the coach who once led Milan to win the Serie A championship or find another way.

Why choose Pioli?

Pioli is very popular in Continenta for many reasons: he has successfully coached and led a relatively young team to win the championship (Milan's Serie A championship in 2022). He is pragmatic, modern, and knows Juventus well-known - he played side by side with Michel Platini and other legendary stars in his time. All of these traits greatly enhance the competitiveness of the Emilian coach, who is obviously very happy to coach a team he has played for. The next few days will be the decisive moment without considering Atlanta and other competitors. In Juventus' shortlist, Roberto Mancini remains a hot pick, in addition to the newly joined foreign coach (which also recently visited Fulham's Marco Silva), who was contacted at the end of March to replace Thiago Mota, who was then in power. Meanwhile, Comoli will start his inspection from Tudor, who has been against him during his 2022-23 season in Marseille: Starting Monday, as Continenta resumes training in preparation for the Club World Cup, Comoli will have the opportunity to observe and gain insight into Tudor from close range on the training ground.

Elkan, the Champions League summit

Juventus senior executives will undoubtedly discuss in-depth coaching candidates (especially important) and strategic directions at the Munich meeting. That's right, imagine John Elkan, Damian Comooli and George Chiellini gathered in the Champions League final. New "old women" are gradually taking shape in Germany. The topics on the table include the choice of technical directors, the transfer market and the restructuring of the sports department. After the end of the Jontoli era, Jontoli is currently determining the economic details of his termination with the "Old Woman", while Elkan opens a new chapter with Chiellini (who will play an increasingly important strategic role) and Comolly (who awaits the official appointment of Juventus but has already begun operations after resigning from the position of chairman of Toulouse). Despite qualifying for the Champions League at the last minute, the nephew of Agnelli's lawyers remained unhappy with the performance last season, and he has disbanded the entire management – ​​Jontoli's right-hand men Pompilio and Stefanelli will also leave – and entrusted the sporting program to the new management, who will be key figures in football and must plan Juventus' revival path together with Maurizio Scanavino, a financial expert and CEO trusted by the owner. Therefore, Comoli and Chiellini will be responsible for identifying the core figures of the team's re-start. Juventus, the evaluation of the coaching candidates from Tudor to Pioli is closely linked to the evaluation of the sports director. Comolly will serve as general manager and be directly involved in the transfer market operations, but he won't fight alone: ​​he will almost certainly have a sports director assisted. The assessment and inspection are currently underway. Among foreign talents, Diego Lopez (formerly Lons) is popular, while in Italy, Ricci Masala is widely appreciated, who led Milan to the Serie A championship with Pioli and served in France in the most recent season. The idea of ​​Juventus' senior management is to comprehensively expand and update the sports structure at all levels. As for the position of deputy sports director/chief scout, Matteo Tognozi is more likely to return. The former Granada executive is recognized by the owner for his role as the youth team's chief scout under Fabio Paratic and as the first team's chief scout under Federico Cherubini, who has made outstanding contributions to the discovery of three talents, Mathias Sule (now in Rome), Dean Heisen (Real Madrid) and Kenan Ilditz (the No. 10 player of the "Old Woman").