Juventus 'plan to steal Antonio Conte' from Spurs as Max Allegri sack beckons

Antonio Conte is wanted by Juventus to return to Italy next season, according to the front page splash in Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday.

The Tottenham boss coached the Turin giants for three seasons from 2011 to 2014 and won three scudetti. Juventus are suffering a nightmare season under Max Allegri, who has returned to the club for a second spell.

They are down in eighth place in Serie A and risk failing to even qualify for the Europa League after taking only three points from their first five Champions League games.

Allegri received the backing of president Andrea Agnelli after the humiliating defeat at Maccabi Haifa - and he signed a four-year contract in 2021 worth €9m a season.

But Gazzetta claims the Juventus board are losing patience with Allegri and will look to bring back Conte if they fail to win a trophy and qualify for the Champions League. "We will assess the situation at the end of the season," said Agnelli. "We are not in the habit of making changes during the season."

Former Chelsea Conte is out of contract with Tottenham at the end of this season after only signing an 18-month deal when he joined in November 2021.

And Gazzetta claims he is reluctant to sit down with the Spurs board to extend his deal because of the chance of returning to Serie A.

Will Conte be Juventus manager next season? Comment here

Conte won the Champions League and five Serie A titles with Juventus as a player before winning six trophies with the club as head coach.

Conte left Juventus in July 2014 to take the Italy job. It was the last season that the Turin club had failed to get out of the Champions League group stage before this campaign Gazzetta claims director Pavel Nedved wanted Conte back in 2019 before the appointment of Maurizio Sarri but the appointment was blocked by Agnelli after the way the former coach left in 2014. But the Milan-based sports daily claims the two have since mended their relationship.

Tottenham are third in the Premier League and are still top of their Champions League group despite the home draw with Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday night.

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