Massimiliano Allegri 'turned down Chelsea, Man United before Juventus return'

Recently re-appointed Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri reportedly turned down approaches from the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United before returning to Turin.

The 53-year-old steered Juve to five successive Serie A crowns between 2015 and 2019 before stepping down from his post, but the sacking of Andrea Pirlo led to Allegri being welcomed back with open arms.

The former AC Milan manager was a wanted man during his time out of management, though, with Real Madrid heavily linked with him this year after Zinedine Zidane's second departure.

Now, Allegri's mentor Giovanni Galeone has lifted the lid on the numerous proposals that the Italian received after his remarkable first stint with Juve, telling Il Bianconero: "The last year that he was at Juventus, Allegri said no to five big offers.

"Chelsea tried twice in the space of 15 days and he always rejected every proposal. Then Real Madrid contacted him more than once, while Arsenal, PSG and Manchester United also tried. This was all in the space of a year, but he always said no.

"I do think that if Juve hadn't called, he would be in Madrid now, even though he wasn't entirely convinced by the organisation there. Nobody is, really."

As well as claiming five consecutive Scudettos, Allegri scooped four Coppa Italia crowns in a row during his first spell with Juventus, who won 191 of their 271 games under his previous tutelage.