Report: Max Allegri is the main candidate to replace Andrea Pirlo

Could time be healing some of Juventus’ wounds with Max Allegri?

As Juve’s 2020-21 season gets closer and closer to its conclusion and Andrea Pirlo’s future at the club looks anything but certain with five league fixtures and a Coppa Italia final to go, who could take the managerial role come a potential summertime change have already been lined up. At least in the press anyway. And as the rumor mill heats up with each passing day and disappointing result, one name only continues to gain momentum.

You guessed it: Max Allegri.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday morning, Allegri has emerged as the main candidate to replace Pirlo if Juventus do indeed part ways with the rookie manager following the completion of the 2020-21 season. This comes even as Juventus’ front office — namely Chief Football Officer Fabio Paratici, who has still yet to sign a contract extension of his own — continues to publicly back Pirlo despite Juve’s current fourth-place standing and complete uncertainty regarding Champions League football next season.

La Gazzetta goes as far to say that Allegri would like to return and become an Alex Ferguson kind of manager in his second stint at Juventus. And that would essentially mean that Allegri would return with more power — likely over the roster and how it’s constructed — than he had during his first tenure at the club.

Of course, all of this is dependent on what happens with Pirlo, who has had a rocky first season as a manager. As we said, Juventus’ front office has publicly backed him and said that he will be the club’s manager come the start of next season while expressing a sense of belief in what Pirlo is trying to build. Where they actually stand is anybody’s guess at this point seeing as Juventus are hanging on for dear life when it comes to a Champions League spot and they continue to drop points against some of the worst clubs in Serie A this season.

But a return to Allegri — who was pictured in Turin on Thursday as he watched his son train — two seasons after they declared that the club wanted to win a new kind of way would be the attempt to try and right the wrongs of the last two seasons. Allegri would most certainly be looked upon to start a new cycle at Juventus, with plenty of roster turnover expected this summer if the club is able to sell many of the players who have struggled over the last year or two.

No matter what, though, this seems like only the beginning of the Allegri 2.0 rumors. It doesn’t seem to matter if Pirlo wins the rest of his games this season, the possible return of Allegri will be hanging over the upcoming summer months. There’s no avoiding it. We know changes are coming at Juventus, and the manager could very well be one of the first decisions to come down.