Report: Igor Tudor is the leading caretaker candidate if Juventus fire Thiago Motta

03/20/2025 01:59 PM

Juve could very well be planning for the immediate future.

Following a season of frustrating results and a pair of disastrous losses against Atalanta and Fiorentina going into the international break, it appears that Juventus' front office are starting to seriously consider alternatives to Thiago Motta. We heard earlier this week that Juventus' return from the break against Genoa could spell the end for Motta if he doesn't achieve a positive result, something that goes against the public backing that Cristiano Giuntoli has expressed in recent weeks.

So, it looks like they've honed in on a potential replacement if that does indeed take place.

According to Fabrizio Romano on Thursday, Juventus have identified a leading candidate to take over for Motta if the rumors about a potential firing actually goes through: Igor Tudor. The former Juventus defender who has been rumored to become manager in Turin in the past before Motta took over for Max Allegri, has been out of a job since resigning from his position from Lazio after the completion of the 2023-24 season. Tudor was at Lazio for just three months after taking over for Maurizio Sarri.

"The manager's job is still in danger," Romano wrote in relation to Motta's current standing at Juventus.

Tudor is no stranger to Juventus both as a player and a coach. On top of his 110 appearances in bianconero as a player in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was the top assistant during Andrea Pirlo's lone season as manager in Turin. Tudor was very outspoken about Pirlo and the entire coaching staff being dismissed following the 2020-21 campaign after they had won silverware, saying: "It was tough, but in the end we managed to qualify for the Champions League and we even won the Coppa Italia. Yet they kicked us out."

But that was a different front office regime in Turin than there is now.

And, with Motta's status being as uncertain as ever despite Giuntoli's public backing and support, it very now appears that Juventus are preparing for the need to change things up and bring in somebody on a caretaker basis to get them to the end of the season (and likel Club World Cup over the summer).

Juventus are currently fifth in the Serie A standings after their back-to-back losses, with Motta's former squad Bologna leapfrogging the Bianconeri this past weekend with their blowout win over Lazio.