TURIN, ITALY – JUNE 10: Gianluca Ferrero, Damien Comolli, Giorgio Chiellini and Maurizio Scanavino … More
New Juventus general manager Damien Comolli has confirmed Igor Tudor will remain on the bench ahead of next season.
Tudor had been appointed as the club’s caretaker manager after Thiago Motta was sacked in March following two heavy defeats against Fiorentina and Atalanta.
The Croat, who played for The Old Lady in the 1990s and 2000s, steadied the ship in Turin and guided the club to fourth spot in Serie A, securing vital and lucrative Champions League football ahead of next season.
Yet his future remained unknown. Tudor had been due to manage the club in FIFA’’s expanded World Club Cup in America, but there was a clause in his contract giving Juve the right to let him go should they look to bring in another coach.
Cristiano Giuntoli, the club’s former sporting director, was sacked recently after a two-year stay. Giuntoli’s departure meant Comolli’s arrival, and the former Liverpool and Tottenham director spoke at length with Tudor and was seemingly won over by what the former defender had to say.
“I can confirm Tudor will be the coach for the next campaign, beyond the Club World Cup,” Comolli said in a press conference.
Under Giuntoli, Juve had been seeking to bring back another former player as coach, Antonio Conte.
Conte had just come off of winning an unexpected Scudetto with Napoli and had unfinished business at the club having walked away in the summer of 2014.
Yet Napoli chief Aurelio De Laurentiis convinced Conte to stay at the club and so with options limited elsewhere, it made sense for the club to keep faith in Tudor.
Tudor has impressed Comolli before, with the two having crossed swords in Ligue 1.
Tudor was then coach of Marseille and Comolli a director at Toulouse.
“The year Tudor was at Marseille [he] beat us twice,” Comolli recalled.
“We laughed about this. I told him: ‘Do you remember what I told you after those games?’ There weren’t many coaches who could keep that intensity and mental strength, and he remembered it.
“He made exceptional work at Marseille, their intensity and mental strength were outstanding that season.”
With Tudor confirmed as coach and Comolli now in as general manager, Juve are likely to pivot towards other transfer objectives.
Comolli confirmed Randal Kolo Muani will stay for the tournament in America, and talks are ongoing with Paris Saint-Germain over another loan, this time for the entirety of 2025-26.
Kolo Muani settled well in Serie A after arriving in January and scored eight goals in 16 games.
Juve’s participation in the US could net the club around $30m, depending on results, and this will likely help the club reshape the side for Tudor ahead of next season. Moreover, some players that Giuntoli signed could also leave as a major reshuffle occurs over the summer.
The likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Douglas Luiz, Nico Gonzalez and Lloyd Kelly could leave, while Renato Veiga has been sent back to Chelsea.
The fate of Francisco Conceicao is unknown, with Juve trying to renegotiate with Porto over a transfer fee.
Juve had an agreement dating back to last summer that would see the club gave the option to buy the winger for $30m, but his performances in the second half of the season tailed off, and now that fee appears somewhat excessive.
It’s going to prove to be a busy summer for The Old Lady, but the two constants will be Tudor and Comolli.
