Igor Tudor to leave Marseille, fueling speculation he could replace Max Allegri

While the major domino when it comes to who Juventus’ manager for next season will be has yet to fall, another one is now very much been added to the stack of possibilities.

Former Juventus assistant Igor Tudor announced Thursday that he has decided to leave Marseille at the end of the season. Citing “both private and professional reasons,” Tudor will depart the French side after just one season in charge, with plenty of links being thrown out there as possible landing spots for the Croatian tactician. One of them, of course, as back at Juventus where he was an assistant under Andrea Pirlo during the 2020-21 season, as Tuttosport published another report Thursday morning prior to his resignation announcement that Tudor is the likely front runner to replace Max Allegri if he were to leave the club following the completion of the 2022-23 campaign this weekend.

“I am leaving due to both private and professional reasons,” Tudor said at a press conference Thursday, two days before Marseille’s season finale against Ajaccio. “I have no agreements with any other clubs, I have not had an argument with anyone and I am not going because I didn’t feel supported. Quite the opposite.”

Tudor last managed in Serie A during the 2021-22 season with Hellas Verona. His one season in France was marked by a strong start and winning run coming out of the World Cup break, but Marseille has lost three of their last four to finish in third place in Ligue 1 and head into the Champions League playoff rounds to begin next season.

Of late, Tudor has been one of the most mentioned candidates if the Juventus managerial job becomes available. While there has been big names mentioned, Tudor would be somebody who certainly wouldn’t cost as much to bring in salary-wise. He obviously knows Juventus from his time as a player as well as an assistant, so he would very much understand the task that’s at hand and the club he would be working for (again).

Whether he would be ready for a managerial job like Juventus — especially under the circumstances that are happening at the club these days — still very much remains to be seen. No matter if it’s this summer or down the road, Tudor would have his work cut out for him.

But the fact that he stepped down at Marseille is a sign that something is coming to him soon. Whether it’s at Juventus or somewhere else, that’s very much TBD. But he’s now free to go wherever he wants — and that will just add fuel to the fire when it comes to being linked to a potential opening at Juventus.