European giants eye Pep Guardiola as dream manager – report

Pep Guardiola

The Italian led the Turin club to an eighth consecutive Serie A title last weekend, but they suffered another year of disappointment in the Champions League with a quarter-final exit to Ajax.

Both club and coach have confirmed their intention to continue working together next season, but Il Giornale believes a surprise separation could take place, as it did when Antonio Conte left the job in 2014.

The problem would be finding an adequate replacement for the former AC Milan coach, with moves for former Juve midfielders Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps looking unlikely given their current posts with Real Madrid and France respectively.

The outlet reports that Guardiola is on the list as a dream option, while Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino have also been linked with the role.

Allegri, who has a contract until 2020, took over in Turin following Conte’s departure. He has since led the club to four successive domestic league and cup doubles, and two Champions League finals, before securing another Scudetto this season.

However, the club’s failure in Europe – which came despite the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer – has raised questions over the coach’s future.

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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.