The contract is expected to be signed in the next few hours, by tomorrow at the latest. Chiellini decisive in the Bianconeri club’s choice

One signature and Luciano Spalletti will take command of the Juventus ship. The signature is expected in the next few hours, tomorrow at the latest. And it will be a signature on a contract that, for the former Azzurri coach, will have the profound meaning of revenge, with himself and with his world. The Bianconeri club thus finds the solution to a somewhat shaky, somewhat confusing situation: Spalletti did not stand in the way of the duration of the agreement because there was no reason to do so when you have in mind the desire to get back in the game thanks to what you will achieve on the field and not thanks to what you might be entitled to through formal channels. The post-Tudor era translates into a major turning point and not into the gamble that Palladino would have represented: Luciano da Certaldo will be tied to Continassa for this season and for the next one if Locatelli and his teammates finish in the top four, but it is not out of the question that the automatic renewal with the Champions League pass in hand could extend until June 2028. So, there will be a change. And the change involves handing the immediate future to a ‘wounded’ coach. “I have the ambition to put right what has happened to me…”, said Spalletti. What happened to him was a dull, deflated national team, so full of input that it sent his thoughts into a tailspin: this is what the former Azzurri coach showed us at Euro 2024 and in the sad away game in Norway, which will now force us to play in the World Cup playoffs once again.

Palladino in talks—   Juventus and Spalletti will have to be the story of a different tale: harmony between the top brass and the coach, empathy between the coach and the locker room. The Comolli method, the way the next Juventus manager works, meant that yesterday’s talks for the post-Igor era also involved the alternative, but distant, candidate Raffaele Palladino: Spalletti in the early morning, the former Monza and Fiorentina coach in the afternoon, because technical director François Modesto was there to cheer him on. The game was just a formality, with Spalletti and his desire to embrace the new cause under the Mole starting the game with an advantage and ending the face-to-face meeting with a clear lead. The coach of the lost Italy team is convinced he can rediscover the form of his best moments: Yildiz will be his guiding star, the rest of the team a group of young players left free to grow and express themselves. “Whoever takes Tudor’s place can consider themselves lucky because Igor has left a well-trained team…”, reflected the Tuscan coach on a long and far from ordinary day. Spalletti said yes to the Bianconeri cause in an instant, or rather less: rising again at the helm of a club with a global dimension is too good an opportunity to pass up. Today, Luciano da Certaldo will be in Turin, then the announcement: there is no rush, the choice has been made. His first real challenge will come on the fourth day of the Champions League, in the initial phase: next Tuesday, Sporting Lisbon will arrive at the Stadium, and it will be disastrous not to win. No decisive requests regarding the duration of the contract, a brief overview of what the January transfer market might bring, a postponement of the definition of the economic aspects to today, even if he is expected to earn around €3 million until June: Spalletti’s first contact with the Juventus world went like this. Comolli and Modesto waited for Giorgio Chiellini to return to Turin before summarizing what they had heard: the Bianconeri’s foreign minister, in Riyadh to represent the club, never played defense on the name of a coach he has always admired and known. The former Roma, Inter, and Napoli coach may be the most logical choice for Chiellini to give new impetus to a team that has not won in eight games and has not scored in four, but that’s not all: Spalletti, for Chiello, can start a cycle as in the recent past. The signing is expected in the next few hours, then all eyes will be on the away game in Cremona on Saturday evening: the billboard says that this will be the debut match for a coach in search of the happiness he lost with the Azzurri. Spalletti’s last game on the bench was a surreal evening: he was on the bench with the national team after being sacked in the victory in Reggio Emilia against Moldova. Stories from a year ago, stories in reverse: less than five months later, here is the big, big chance. Not to be missed, and in fact, he did not miss it: Palladino and Mancini were left behind in the race to replace Tudor. At stake is a personal journey to put back at the center of the village.