Juventus made €20m pass at Guardiola before settling for Sarri — report

Maurizio Sarri remains on track to become Juventus head coach in the next few days, with an announcement probably coming on Friday when Juventus have earmarked their own stadium for something other than the usual stadium tours.

But until that actually happens, we remain firmly in the land of patience and speculation, as the media generate stories of varying outlandishness, such as linking Chelsea with Rafa Benítez and José Mourinho as potential replacements. Gotta have stories to move them papers and clicks!

Is this latest bit of info just part of that speculative loop? Maybe. Maybe not. It does concern a story in the past, which does add to its validity, and it does fit with some of the side-rumors during this whole Sarri situation.

Those rumors had been saying that Juventus could yet pull off another Cristiano Ronaldo-sized coup, but this time with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. While reasonable minds cast those stories aside, they have persisted even if they’ve faded a bit in recent days. (At the same time, tabloid rumblings of Chelsea now supposedly wanting to keep Sarri have emerged, too, just to make sure all angles and outcomes and possibilities are covered.)

Now, according to Eurosport, it might turn out that the rumors may have some semi-factual basis, as they report that Juventus made a massive €20m offer to Guardiola at some point in the recent past. Guardiola of course said no, which then led Juventus down the path of Sarri, who was understandably more willing to move back to his native country.

While it sounds like the Guardiola angle is closed for now, given Manchester City’s potential troubles with UEFA in the future, the world’s highest paid head coach may end up conquering yet another league eventually.

For now, it’s Sarri all the way for Juve, and hopefully soon so we can move on with our lives.