Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 7y

Massimiliano Allegri open to extending Juventus contract beyond the summer

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri says if the Serie A club wish to extend his contract beyond the end of the season then they just need to call him.

Allegri's deal with Juve is up for renewal at the end of June and there has been talk of interest from Arsenal and Barcelona in the former Cagliari and AC Milan boss.

The 49-year-old has tried not to comment about his future amid the growing speculation, but after Sunday's 1-0 win over Sampdoria, he appeared to open up about staying in Turin.

"If [general manager Beppe] Marotta wants to continue working with me, then I'm just waiting for him to call me," Allegri is quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

An argument with Leonardo Bonucci, which saw the defender dropped for the first leg of Juve's Champions League round-of-16 tie with Porto last month, may have suggested a growing tension within the camp, while Allegri let off more steam during Sunday's win in Genoa.

Allegri has, however, played down any malign in his latest touchline tirade, saying he was just trying to keep his team on their toes.

"The first thing that got me mad was when [Kwadwo] Asamoah switched off and didn't mark his man up front, then the second was with [Daniele] Rugani when we had a man on the ground and he gave possession away," Allegri said. "In situations like these, you need to be a bit ruthless.

"Whenever they went down, we kicked the ball out immediately, but they didn't -- when they got the ball off Rugani, they carried on playing. It's just moments like these where you need to be more attentive and use your head.

"I already knew we were going to have a difficult second half, which is why I took my coat off at half-time -- I threw it away in advance."

Juve's win restored their eight-point lead over Roma at the top of the Serie A table, but they still need another 20 points from the final nine games of the season to be sure of the title, according to their coach.

"If we want to win a sixth straight Scudetto, we need 93 points," Allegri said. "This was a fundamental step, like the ones which will follow."

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