The Italian media is having a hard time pegging Max Allegri’s future

Max Allegri’s much-talked about summit with Juventus president Andrea Agnelli could be at some point over the next couple of days. Or it could be after Juve’s trip to the Stadio Olimpico to face Rome. Or, it could be after the season finale against Sampdoria in a couple of weekends from now.

Or, it could be as I type this here sentence.

At this point, I’m not sure anybody is really certain as to when the Double-A “showdown” will actually be.

And I think it’s safe to say, at this point with how much is being thrown out there amongst the Italian media, the same goes for Allegri’s future at the club beyond this season.

Based on which Italian media outlet you read, the account of the Allegri-Agnelli meeting and Allegri’s future with Juventus is very, very different.

On Thursday, we heard the following:

• Tuttosport, in a very Tuttosport kind of way, linked Juventus with a move for current Chelsea and former Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri. That’s if Allegri were to leave this summer.
• Tuttosport also says that there’s still the big-money temptation of Paris Saint-Germain out there for Allegri to potentially go after.
• Sky Sport Italia, meanwhile, said that Allegri will go into the meeting with Agnelli and ask for a contract extension through the 2021-22 season, get a nice little raise on top of it and then outline his transfer strategy, one that he wants to be more involved in going forward.
• Sportmediaset says that France manager Didier Deschamps will be Juve’s top choice if Allegri were to leave.
• Depending on who you read, Juventus either want to replace Allegri with Antonio Conte or have given up in bringing the man who preceded Max back for a second go-around as manager. Conte, according to Sky Italia, has been in talks with Inter to become their next manager after also turning down the chance to coach at Roma next season.

All of this, obvious, is dependent on the giant elephant in the room: Max Allegri’s status as Juventus manager. Does he stay like Agnelli and Pavel Nedved have stated publicly in recent weeks? Or, after this ever-so-important meeting between Juve’s manager and president, does Allegri (and/or Agnelli) decide that this season will be the final season of Mad Max on the sidelines for the eight-time champions.

The general sense, regardless of what the management says to the press, is that Allegri’s status hinges on what is said at this meeting with Agnelli. That could be the case, or Allegri’s status is pretty much already determined. It’s not like three relatively meaningless games against Roma, Atalanta and Sampdoria is going to be the thing that determines whether Allegri stays or goes. (Nor should it.)

So, as for now, we wait. Maybe this meeting happens soon, maybe it doesn’t. Either way, we’re bound to hear plenty about it regardless of when it actually takes place. And when it does all go down, there’s going to be plenty of speculation in the aftermath. Yes, even more than there already is.