Massimiliano Allegri confirms he had reached an agreement to become Real Madrid coach before Juventus re-called him last summer.
The Tuscan tactician was sacked by the Bianconeri in 2019 despite winning 11 trophies in five seasons. Spells with Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo were not as successful as the club had thought, so Andrea Agnelli re-called Allegri at the helm.
“It was the right time. I could have returned earlier, but I didn’t do it because of personal reasons,” Allegri told GQ, as quoted by Calciomercato.com.
My mother died in 2018, so I didn’t want to go too far away. I remained close to my son Giorgio and my father, who was severely affected by the death of my mum. He still lives in Livorno.
“I decided to return to Juventus because I have a strong bond with the club and the owners, but also to stay closer to my son, who lives in Turin with his mother. I like to be close to my loved ones.”
Real Madrid were one of the options for the coach’s future and Allegri confirmed that he snubbed a move to the Bernabeu twice.
“I had already signed with them last summer, but I called the president to tell him that I would not go because I had chosen Juventus. He thanked me. When they called me in May, I had no doubts.
“I have no regrets, it would have been a great professionally: Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid…but you can’t have everything in life. I am proud to have coached Milan for four years and to be at Juventus now. I rejected Real Madrid twice. The first time I was in talks to extend with Juventus. I told Florentino that I had already given my word to Agnelli.”
Allegri signed a four-year deal with Juventus last summer and is the highest-paid coach in Serie A with a reported €9m-a-year salary.
The Bianconeri had a tough start to the season after Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit in August, but are the best team in Serie A since the start of the season and are unbeaten in the last 16 league matches. They’ll face their rivals Inter when Serie A resumes on Sunday.