The former Bologna boss was approached when Max Allegri was still in charge and had one year remaining on his contract with the Bianconeri.
Allegri’s return to the Turin titans was admittedly underwhelming, and despite picking up the 2023/24 Coppa Italia trophy he was given the boot for an uncharacteristic outburst towards match officials.
Motta’s potential exit seems likely to be much more straightforward, following two cup exits and a shocking 4-0 home reversal to Atalanta last weekend.
Rumours are rife among fans, pundits and the Italian media that if Juventus come a cropper at Fiorentina on Sunday that it could be Motta’s final game at the helm.
Motta turned down the overtures from AC Milan to join Juventus on a three-year deal last June, which maybe was because he had excelled as a player for Milan’s bitter rivals Inter Milan.
The former Italy midfielder arrived at Juve who had been a bit of a shambles. The club experienced three peculiar years with an unwanted combination of betting and doping suspensions, investigations and Allegri’s brand of soccer unable to reap his previous success at Juventus.
Motta given blank canvas
The club, despite qualifying for the highly lucrative Champions League and claiming the Coppa Italia, were not as financially stable as usual. Yet Juventus supported Motta by splashing the cash to provide the new head coach with €200 million (US$217m) worth of talent during the summer transfer window.
Shotstopper Michele Di Gregorio was Motta’s first signing, with the 27-year-old arriving from Monza to take over between the sticks from Wojciech Szczesny. He has been a revelation, and spared Juve suffering a more hefty Serie A defeat than 4-0 to Atalanta.
Teun Koopmeiners was an expensive acquisition from Atalanta in the summer. Seen as a midfielder who could regularly contribute goals, that role has somehow eluded him.
Juventus were expecting the Dutch ace to emulate the glory days of a goalscoring midfielder like Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal.
Motta missed out on luring Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori to join him at Juve, the Italy international favoured Arsenal, and ever since has been chasing a top-class defender.
Aces missing from the pack
Striker Federico Chiesa and former skipper Danilo are players that have been notably missed at the club.
Chiesa was used too defensively under Allegri, and didn’t want to stick around for the more attack-minded Motta so signed for Liverpool. Veteran versatile defender Danilo turned down the chance to join Antonio Conte’s Napoli in January, and has returned to his native Brazil to wind down his impressive career.
The dawn of a new era at Juventus has disappointed fans and the club board, with the Italian media reporting that preliminary talks have begun between the Bianconeri and Roberto Mancini.
Former Italy boss Mancini has enjoyed stellar success as a manager, except in his last role as Saudi Arabia head coach. He was a childhood supporter of Juventus, and came close to joining the Turin giants as both a manager and player.
He is now a free agent, which would suit the Bianconeri as they prepare to tackle the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June and July.
Managers in the mix
Italian top tier regulations do not permit Serie A clubs to employ a rival manager until the season concludes, which could rule out Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini joining Juventus. Gasperini has plenty of admirers for his brand of soccer, so joined the wishlist of AS Roma and is being monitored by AC Milan.
Should Juve not opt for a free agent — such as Mancini, ex-Barcelona boss Xavi and Igor Tudor — they may install someone within the club to take over in a caretaker capacity if Motta is axed.
There are a handful of potential suitable permanent replacements for Motta that includes Conte (Napoli), Roberto De Zerbi (Olympique de Marseille) and Stefano Pioli (Al-Nassr).
A temporary measure
If any of these big names were set to join Juventus, then Massimo Brambilla and Francisco Magnanelli could jointly lead the team through until the end of the season.
Brambilla is the Juve’s Next Gen coach, who is successfully tackling Serie C, with former Sassuolo midfielder Magnanelli in charge of the club’s U20 team (known as the Primavera).
Magnanelli joined Allegri as a technical collaborator, and ended up running training sessions for the senior side last term.
If the 40-year-old is appointed on an interim basis, and no candidates are secured, there is always the possibility that he does enough to impress during the handful of Serie A games to earn a shot as the next permanent head coach at Juventus.