Juventus’ announcement that Massimiliano Allegri will leave the club in the summer came as something of a surprise. The Italian club confirmed on Friday that they will move on from Allegri, one year before his contract was due to expire.

Allegri, 51, enjoyed five trophy-laden seasons in Turin. But reports of feuds with club officials – including sporting director Fabio Paratici and vice-president Pavel Nedved – led to his early exit, reports givemesport.com.

The search is now on for a replacement. Allegri is backing the Old Lady to hire a “great” coach, to match the club’s status.

“The name of the next coach? That I don’t know, someone needs to be on the bench, but I don’t know who,” he told Italian TV programme Striscia La Notizia, per the Mirror.

“In any case they will choose a great coach because Juve is a great club.”

One man currently looking for a job is, of course, Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese coach has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United in December.

And of the current vacancies, Juventus – a club with ambitions of winning the Champions League – has to be the most appealing.

Interestingly enough, Mourinho reportedly has the backing of someone who has plenty of influence at Juventus – Cristiano Ronaldo.