In the minutes following Juventus securing Champions League football next season with Sunday night’s win over Venezia, interim manager Igor Tudor stepped to the microphone and, in a way, let a few things fly. It centered around his future at the club — and especially the immediate future when it comes to whether or not he will coach Juve at the Club World Cup next month.
A day later, we’ve gotten a little bit of a clearer picture when it comes to Tudor’s status for the tournament that gets underway in the United States in three weeks time.
Tudor’s agent, Anthony Seric, told Sky Italia on Monday that Tudor will in fact coach Juve at the Club World Cup, describing Sunday’s statements as an “outburst” tied to the tension involved with trying to qualify for the Champions League — the biggest objective that he had during his nine-game spell after replacing Thiago Motta in March. Tudor has reportedly had a clause in his contract for next season already activated thanks to Champions League qualification, but the front office — namely Cristiano Giuntoli — have yet to actually decide if the former Juventus defender will be their head coach for the 2025-26 campaign or if they will go in another (potentially Antonio Conte-themed) direction.
Here is, in full, what Seric had to say about Tudor’s future:
“Yesterday’s outburst was a result of tension tied to achieving the objective, which came with difficulty, but was achieved in a climate of great serenity with the club. He has an excellent relationship with Giuntoli and all parts of the club. He will not pressure the club about his future decision because he clearly hopes to still be the Juventus coach next season and will respect the timing of their choice.
“He spoke with Cristiano after his post-match interview, and Igor will honour his commitment to lead Juventus at the Club World Cup. He hasn’t been told anything different. Tudor feels like a true Juventus man, and he has worked with great passion and professionalism in recent months, a testament to his deep bond with the Juventus world.”
(Source: Football Italia)
Juventus are the second club in as many seasons in which Tudor has come in midseason and helped qualify for a European place, with his appointment last season at Lazio coming in light of the club parting ways with Maurizio Sarri. Tudor led Lazio to a seventh-place finish and a spot in the Europa League, but the two parties parted ways after the season after reported disagreements between the manager and owner Claudio Lotito.
Tudor made himself available to Juventus — and subsequently made the 10-hour drive from his home in Split, Croatia, to club headquarters in Turin — with the knowledge that it could very well be a short-term situation even with the club qualifying for the Champions League. Of course, he is totally right in his desire to want to be here beyond this summer as well as the fact that entering the Club World Cup as a lame duck isn’t exactly productive for both himself and the team as a whole.
But it also makes complete sense that emotions were running extremely high after the win over Venezia considering the emotional roller coaster that was. Same can be said for the 2 1⁄2 months that Tudor has been in charge knowing how he found the squad and what condition they were in as well as the fact of just how tight the race for fourth place was the entire time. He has every right to believe that he deserves this job beyond this summer, but the reality is that there could very well be a big fish that just won the Scudetto out there and available.
When we will know all of that still remains to be seen. For now, though, it does look like Tudor will in fact be with Juventus through their participation in the Club World Cup. Beyond that, it still feels completely TBD.