Fabio Paratici has confirmed that Maurizio Sarri was ‘absolutely Juventus’ first choice’ to replace Max Allegri.
It had been claimed that Juve only went for Sarri after failing to land Pep Guardiola or Mauricio Pochettino, but Paratici [pictured, left] assured the former Chelsea boss was ‘the right man for the job’.
“The negotiations with Chelsea did not last over a month,” explained the sporting director at the Coach’s official unveiling on Thursday.
“We had clear ideas from the start, but you have to show respect for a Coach under contract and two big clubs.
“I thank Chelsea for their disposal, as Marina Granovskaia confirmed herself one of the best directors out there.
“We made a choice, thinking the propulsion and alchemy created between club, Coach, players and fans could start to weaken a little.
“Our choice to change Allegri was not down to results or style of football. Style of football was not central to the reasoning for changing.
“We chose Maurizio because we felt he was the best Coach for Juventus right now, just as Allegri was five years ago and Conte three years before that.
“These are all different Coaches with different characteristics. Sarri showed he can win in the Premier League and internationally, so he’s the right man for the job.
“He was absolutely the first choice. I don’t know what we said to convince him, maybe he just felt we really wanted him.”
Paratici was then asked for progress on the Old Lady’s pursuits of Paul Pogba and Adrien Rabiot.
“Pogba is a Manchester United player, he was with us for many years, he grew up here and we love him, but he is a Manchester United player.
“There are many clubs who want Rabiot. We are in the running, not just for him, but the other targets in our minds.
“We’ll discuss it with Maurizio and try to find the right targets together for the team we want to see.”
