Luciano Spalletti on Thursday made his return to soccer after being hired by Juventus to replace the sacked Igor Tudor.
Juventus have given Spalletti until the end of the season in the hope that the 66-year-old can ensure qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League, with his contract running until June 30 next year.
Should he achieve that Spalletti would be given more time to help put Juve back at the top of the pile in Italy after being surpassed by fierce rivals Inter and SSC Napoli.
Photo: AFP
Spalletti was the man behind Napoli’s historic Serie A title in 2022-2023 and has been one of the nation’s most influential head coaches over the past two decades, also performing way above expectations at AS Roma and Inter.
His success in Naples led to Spalletti tattooing Napoli’s crest on his arm and saying he would not manage another club in Italy after ending a 33-year wait for the scudetto, but he comes back into club soccer — on what would have been Diego Maradona’s 65th birthday — after a dreadful time as Italy head coach, a job which was supposed to be the crowning glory of a long and eventful career.
Spalletti’s Italy reign ended in ignominy in June after a disastrous title defense at Euro 2024 and a thumping at the hands of Norway in the opening match of the Azzurri’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
Juventus also find themselves at a crossroads and in search of an identity after a tumultuous past few seasons which have been dominated by below-par results on the pitch and scandal off it.
Tudor was himself brought in to save Juventus last season after the sacking in March of Thiago Motta, who was supposed to herald a new era of free-flowing and successful soccer when he replaced Massimiliano Allegri.
Spalletti is to take charge of a club that posted losses of 58 million euros (US$67.5 million) last season and has been searching for the right formula behind the scenes since mass boardroom resignations at the end of 2022 that prefaced a financial scandal which would cost Juve a 10-point deduction the following season.
Former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli was subsequently given two hefty bans by the Italian Football Federation and last month was handed a suspended prison sentence of 20 months after a plea bargain.
Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Udinese was a first victory since mid-September for Juve, who sit seventh in Serie A, six points behind leaders Napoli and Roma.
Spalletti’s first match is to be at surprise package US Cremonese, who were promoted from Serie B last season, but are just one point and place behind Italy’s most successful club after nine matches.
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