Former Roma and Torino director Gianluca Petrachi reveals Andrea Belotti was close to joining Milan for €55m and Jude Bellingham was offered to the Granata, while his close friend Antonio Conte will think ’10 times’ before returning to Juventus.
Petrachi is one of the candidates to replace Federico Cherubini as Juventus’ sporting director next season.
He is a close friend of Antonio Conte and played with him at Lecce in the ’80s. He even tried to bring the Italian tactician to Roma in 2019 before Inter appointed the former midfielder.
Conte’s contract with Tottenham expires in June and he’s been linked with a return to Juventus in 2023.
“He knows the environment and his winning culture and mentality have always made him emerge,” Petrachi told Sportitalia as quoted by Tuttojuve.
“However, Conte would think 10 times before making such a choice [returning to Juventus]. He is a pragmatic person, and he’d consider the options given by the club, also economically.
“Antonio is a modern coach, he is not part of the past and he proved that last season. He made Inter win after many years, also with important transfer activity.”
The Athletic has reported that Conte and Tottenham will resume contract extension talks this week.
Conte won the Scudetto with Inter in 2020-21, leaving the club after a few months. He signed an 18-month deal with Tottenham in November 2021.
Petrachi spent several years at Torino and revealed that he was close to selling Belotti to Milan for €55m.
“It happened in the summer of 2018, I had sold Belotti to Milan for €55m, plus €3m add-ons and booked Sampdoria’s Duvan Zapata for €18m. The lad waited for a month and a half, but in the end the chief [Torino President Urbano Cairo] said no.”
Petrachi was also close to securing a deal for Jude Bellingham when he was at Torino.
“Pasquale Bruno had offered me this guy, but we could not manage to bring him to Torino because he remained loyal to Birmingham City, extending his expiring contract.”