The contract is expected to be signed in the coming hours, by tomorrow at the latest. Chiellini Was Decisive in the Bianconeri’s Choice

One signature and Luciano Spalletti will take the helm at Juventus. The signing is expected in the coming hours, by tomorrow at the latest. And it’s a contract that, for the former Italy national team coach, will carry the profound meaning of redemption—for himself and for his world. The Bianconeri club has thus found the missing piece of a puzzle that was a bit shaky and a bit confusing: Spalletti didn’t make an issue of the contract’s duration because there was no reason to do so when your mind is set on getting back in the game thanks to what you’ll achieve on the field—and not thanks to what you might be entitled to through formal channels. The post-Tudor era marks a major turning point rather than the gamble that would have come in the form of Palladino: Luciano from Certaldo will commit to Continassa for this season and the next, provided Locatelli and his teammates finish the season in the top four—though it’s not out of the question that the automatic renewal, secured by a Champions League spot, could extend all the way to June 2028. Change is coming, then. And the change involves entrusting the immediate future to a “wounded” coach. “I have the ambition to put right what happened to me…,” said Spalletti. What happened to him is a lackluster, deflated national team, so full of conflicting input that it sends his thoughts into a tailspin: that’s what the former Azzurri head coach showed us at the 2024 European Championship and during the disheartening away match in Norway that will now force us once again to play in the World Cup playoffs.

Palladino in talks—   Juventus and Spalletti must write a different story: harmony between the front office and the coach, empathy between the coach and the locker room. The Comolli method—the way the next Juventus coach works—meant that yesterday’s talks regarding Igor’s replacement also involved the alternative, though distant, candidate Raffaele Palladino: Spalletti first thing in the morning, and the former Monza and Fiorentina manager in the afternoon, because technical director François Modesto was there to back him. The match was merely a formality; Spalletti and his eagerness to embrace the new challenge in Turin began the face-to-face session with the upper hand and ended it with a clear lead. The coach of that “lost” Italian national team is convinced he can recapture the form of his best days: Yildiz will be his guiding star, while the rest of the squad is a group of young players given the freedom to grow and express themselves. “Whoever takes Tudor’s place can consider themselves lucky because Igor has left behind a well-trained team…,” reflected the Tuscan coach during a long and far-from-trivial day. Spalletti said yes to the Bianconeri cause in an instant—or rather, even less time: making a comeback at the helm of a club with a global reach is too tempting an opportunity to let slip away. Today, Luciano from Certaldo will be in Turin, followed by the announcement: there’s no rush—the decision has been made. His first real challenge will come on Matchday 4 of the Champions League group stage: next Tuesday, Sporting Lisbon will visit the Stadium—and failure to win would be disastrous. No deal-breaking demands regarding the contract’s duration; a brief overview of what the January transfer window might hold; and a postponement of the finalization of financial details until today—even though he’s expected to earn around 3 million euros through June: Spalletti’s first encounter with the Juventus world went down just like that. Comolli and Modesto waited for Giorgio Chiellini’s return to Turin before summarizing what they had heard: the Bianconeri’s “foreign minister,” who was in Riyadh representing the club, never held back when it came to the name of a coach he has always respected and known well. The former coach—who, incidentally, has managed Roma, Inter, and Napoli—could, in Chiellini’s view, be the most logical choice to reignite the season for a team that hasn’t won in eight games and hasn’t scored in four. But that’s not all: for Chiello, Spalletti could usher in a new era, much like in the recent past. The signing is expected in the coming hours, then all eyes will turn to Saturday night’s away game in Cremona: the schedule indicates that this will be the debut match for a coach seeking to recapture the happiness he once found in the blue jersey. Spalletti’s last appearance on the bench was a surreal evening: he sat on the bench with the national team—having already been fired—during the victory in Reggio Emilia against Moldova. Stories from a year ago, stories in reverse: not even five months later, and here comes the big, huge opportunity. One not to be missed—and, in fact, he didn’t miss it: Palladino and Mancini have been left behind in the race to succeed Tudor. At stake is a personal journey that needs to be brought back into the spotlight.