Allegri set to sign new deal after Juve pledge

Milan (AFP) – Massimiliano Allegri is set to sign a new two-year deal with Juventus that will make him Serie A’s highest-paid coach, but only after the club agreed not to sell Paulo Dybala or Paul Pogba.

Widespread reports in Italy said Allegri, who has steered the Old Lady of Turin to successive league titles the past two seasons, will put pen to paper on Friday. 

It would see the 48-year-old Allegri, who led AC Milan to their last scudetto in 2011, increase his yearly salary from 3.5m euros to 5m per season, becoming in the process the highest paid coach in Italy’s top flight.

Allegri was being linked with a move to Chelsea or Real Madrid but a website report by La Repubblica newspaper claimed Juventus sealed the deal when they agreed to Allegri’s specific request on Argentina striker Dybala, who has hit a club-leading 16 goals, and French midfield star Pogba.

It represents an impressive turnaround for Allegri, whose career was up in the air after being sacked by Milan in January 2014 after the team let slip a 3-0 lead against Sassuolo to suffer a 4-3 defeat. 

As Milan continue to struggle, Juventus have flourished under the Italian. Last year, he led the Turin giants to their fourth consecutive league title, their first league and Cup double in 20 years and their first Champions League appearance since 2003.

Although outclassed 3-1 by Barcelona in Berlin last May and ousted from Europe’s premier club competition by Bayern Munich in a tight, last 16 tie decider earlier this season, Juventus have plenty of faith in Allegri.

John Elkann — the chairman and CEO of Exor, an investment company owned by the Agnelli family which owns Juventus — told media: “Last year was a very important one for us under Allegri and this year has confirmed that he is a great coach. Our future lies with him.”

Juve’s league triumph this season means they equalled their 1935 feat of winning five consecutive titles, and Elkann added: “We’ve achieved a very important feat of winning five successive titles.

“Even in the difficult times, we believed we could do it. The team showed amazing character and had an extraordinary season.”

Allegri has the chance to secure a second consecutive domestic double when Juventus play AC Milan in the final of the Italian Cup on May 21 in Rome.