Juventus appoint Spalletti as new coach

Juventus have officially appointed former Italy coach Luciano Spalletti as the club’s new head coach.

This appointment follows the dismissal of Igor Tudor at the beginning of this week after failing to win the last three games.

Spalletti, who rejected an offer from Premier League side Nottingham Forest, had always been Juventus’s first-choice candidate to replace Tudor.

According to reports, the former Napoli coach has put pen to paper on a short-term contract until the end of the 2025-26 season with an option to extend if the Bianconeri qualify for next season’s Champions League.

This means he has been given a target of Champions League place finish before he could be given the job permanently.

The former Roma coach will reportedly earn a salary of around €3 million until the end of the 2025-26 campaign. 

Juventus decided to dismiss Tudor, who was given a new deal at the beginning of the season after just eight league matches of the 2025-26 campaign. Juventus has now become the first club in Serie A to dismiss its head coach this campaign. 

The Old Lady management felt there was a need to change the manager who had failed to win in eight matches in all competitions. 

Their most recent victory was a 4-3 win against Inter Milan on September 13. The bianconerri also failed to score in their last four matches and went on to lose their three games.

Before his dismissal, it was reported that the former Olympique Marseille manager did not see eye to eye with several Juventus directors, including general manager Damien Comolli. 

Their disagreement reportedly stems from transfer decisions over the summer. They also did not agree over the appointment of Director of Performance Darren Burgess, and the club were not keen on Tudor’s style of communication, particularly in the press. 

It’s expected that Spalletti will bring a trusted and experienced backroom staff along with him to Continassa. 

Thursday’s reports say Marco Domenichini, who has been a long-time colleague, will join Spalletti as his assistant at Juventus. Their relationship spanned over two decades, beginning with Udinese in 2002, then Roma, and Zenit St. Petersburg.

The contract proposed by Juventus management gives them some leeway to interrupt the relationship, even if they manage to get them into Europe’s top competition at the end of this season.

The club have also released pictures of the new boss meeting his players and visiting the training ground at Continassa.