The 49-year-old’s agent had kicked off initial talks with the Bianconeri once the Serie A season concluded. Inzaghi was seeking a new challenge after narrowly missing out on lifting a second Scudetto with Inter Milan, pipped on the last day of the campaign by Napoli.
A stuttering finale to the 2024/25 term allowed former Juve manager Antonio Conte to leapfrog Inter, and eventually snatch the Italian league title by just one point.
Inzaghi became a serie winner after arriving at Inter in 2021, claiming a Serie A title, two Coppa Italia trophies and a trio of Supercoppa Italia crowns.
Yet he never managed to clinch the coveted Champions League while at the San Siro. Inter were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City two seasons ago, and the club recently suffered a record-breaking 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
San Siro switch
A switch from the San Siro to the Turin titans was viable, although a staggering deal to become the head coach of Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia simmered in the background.
Cristiano Giuntoli, who was until this week Juve’s sporting director, was hopeful that the Bianconeri could secure his signature.
Inzaghi’s agent indicated that his client was encouraged by this interest, which resulted in further meetings.
Once the writing was on the wall for Giuntoli, who left his official duties after two seasons into a five-year deal, talks intended to formalize an agreement were immediately halted by Juventus.
The back-up plan for Inzaghi, who could potentially have returned the glory days of winning trophies with Juve, was then implemented.
Club World Cup
He is expected to sign a lucrative contract to become Al-Hilal manager, with his first task to tackle the 2025 Club World Cup finals where Juventus will be led by interim head coach Igor Tudor.
Juve’s performances and results at the Club World Cup finals will ultimately stick with Tudor for the next Serie A campaign.
There are a handful of potential candidates to take over the prestigious role, but no one has recently achieved anything close to Inzaghi’s two Champions League finals in three seasons.
Only time will tell whether Juventus should be kicking themselves over missing out on Inzaghi, following Giuntoli’s departure.