Juventus coach Allegri confirms Real Madrid's Perez called him
The Italian turned down the chance to take over from Zidane
Following Real Madrid's decision to appoint Julen Lopetegui as their new coach, Massimiliano Allegri has spoken to Sky about the club's interest in appointing him: "[Madrid president] Florentino Perez called me, I spoke with him one time."
After Zinedine Zidane quit Madrid, Perez turned to various options to take on the job at the Bernabeu, with Allegri, who took over at Juventus in 2014, one of his targets.
Allegri affirmed that he rejected the interest from Madrid out of respect for his current club: "I told [Perez] that I had given my word to Juventus that I would stay here and I wanted to respect what I had said."
However, the Italian coach added that he was "grateful" that Madrid and Perez "thought of him" as the looked for a new boss.
In four seasons at Juve, Allegri has reached two Champions League finals, losing both times, once to Barcelona and another time to Madrid.
But he's hopeful things could change: "The current Juventus side is one of the strongest in the world, we have to improve what we started four years ago and I'm obliged to do that with this group of players."
