We seem to very much be entering the #SpallettiWatch portion of the contract extension announcement for Juventus and their veteran Tuscan manager.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, things are pretty much all wrapped up when it comes to contract terms between Juve and Luciano Spalletti when it comes to his contract extension that he is expected to sign. That “expected” has always felt like a certainty even as contract talks have gone on, and now the feeling is that Juventus could very well announce
Spalletti’s new deal that will run through 2028 before Saturday night’s showdown with Atalanta in Bergamo.
That could be the case. Or it will be something that Spalletti is (potentially) be asked about again at a pre-match press conference over the course of the next week or two — which is obviously something he will love to bits.
Spalletti is expected to earn upward of €6 million per season, making him one of the highest-paid managers in Serie A alongside everybody’s favorite serial winner Antonio Conte of Napoli, AC Milan’s Max Allegri and Gian Piero Gasperini at Roma.
For all we know, it could be another week or two before Spalletti’s deal is announced. When Juventus sporting director Marco Ottolini spoke to Sky Italia ahead of Monday’s win over Genoa, he didn’t exactly make it sound like an announcement was iminent, only saying: “With the coach, as he himself said, there is no rush. We are concentrated on these final games, but talks are at an advanced stage.”
It feels like things have been at an advanced stage for quite some time. Spalletti is clearly in no rush to get his contract extension signed, instead truly trying to keep the focus on the job he is doing in the present day rather than shift things to the future for even more than a day or so. And no matter who has talked from the Juventus front office, the massaging has always been that Spalletti is the man they want to lead this club into next season and that they are confident things will get done in due time.
There’s no reason to doubt them at this point that something will get done because they have never strayed away from the fact that they want Spalletti to be their manager beyond what his current contract says. It doesn’t matter if it’s been Damien Comolli, Giorgio Chiellini or Ottolini, Juventus’ message has been clear — they want Spalletti as Juventus’ manager next season, there is mutual interest in that happening and that a deal is going to be done in due time.
Just when that time actually ends up resulting in Spalletti sitting alongside Comolli and signing his contract still remains to be seen. It may be this week, it may be later this month. Who knows, right? But Juve want Spalletti to stick around and that is not going to suddenly change.
