Former AC Milan and Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri turned down the chance to take over at Premier League giants Arsenal, friend and mentor Giovanni Galeone has told Radio Kiss Kiss.
Now, it’s not certain when Arsenal came calling for one of Europe’s finest and most successful tacticians.
According to the Daily Star, Allegri had been lined up to replace the departing Arsene Wenger in 2018 before Unai Emery was given the keys to the training ground instead.
But the 53-year-old has also been linked with the Emirates job on various occasions since, particularly as Mikel Arteta’s rebuilding project threatened to crumble into dust during a disastrous run of results in the autumn.
So Galeone’s intriguing admission raises as many questions as it does answers.
“He had problems with his mother and he said no first to PSG and Chelsea and also to Arsenal and Real Madrid,” says Galeone, who coached Allegri at Pescara in the early 1990s, via Il Bianconero.
“I think he will return to coaching because he wants to do it.”
With Gennaro Gattuso expected to leave Napoli at the end of the season, Galeone said he wouldn’t be surprised to see his protege end his sabbatical with a move to the Stadio San Paolo.
“(Napoli) president De Laurentiis loves Max very much and I know for sure there is mutual respect.”
It is two years since Allegri walked away from Juventus following a run of five Serie A titles at the Allianz Stadium. The straight-talking tactician also led AC Milan to their most recent Scudetto crown, in 2011.
And, as long as Allegri remains available, the pressure will continue to hang like a cloud over the likes of Mikel Arteta, Zinedine Zidane, Hansi Flick, Gattuso… well, pretty much any manager feeling the strain at one of Europe’s bonafide big-hitters.
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