Allegri: “I signed a deal with Real Madrid, but I called Florentino and told him I am going to Juventus”

All reports in the summer had indicated that Max Allegri was the leading candidate to take over the Real Madrid bench after Zinedine Zidane’s departure. The Italian was a prolific winner with Juventus and had taken a sabbatical for a year waiting for the right opportunity to arise. That opportunity appeared to be Madrid. In an interview with GQ Italia, Allegri revealed that he had a signed contract to take over as Real Madrid manager, before re-joining Juventus.

“I said it, and I will repeat it, before returning to Juventus I had already signed an agreement with Real Madrid to take over as their new manager,” Allegri revealed. “I called the president, Florentino Perez, and told him that I would not end up joining Madrid as I had chosen Juventus. He thanked me. There were not any further questions from Florentino or Madrid.”

The revelation of a signed agreement may come as a surprise to many Madrid fans. The courtship was a known fact, but a signed agreement that was broken means Madrid was then left scrambling to find a new coach. The search ultimately ended with Carlo Ancelotti, who offered himself to the club after a phone call with Jose Angel Sanchez. Although not first choice, Ancelotti has guided the club to the top of the La Liga thus far and has reached the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League. Meanwhile, Allegri has had a tough time trying to rebuild a new Juventus team. They are battling to stay in the Champions League positions within Serie A and crashed out of the Champions League in the round of 16 to Villarreal.