Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri admits that while he was honoured to be linked with Real Madrid, he is pleased with his decision to remain in Turin.
The Italian was considered for the Los Blancos job after Zinedine Zidane stepped down from the post earlier this summer, but he revealed he gave his word he would stay with the Old Lady.
“Being linked with a club like Real made me proud, but I said no because I gave my word to [President] Andrea Agnelli,” he told Stile Mese.
“There were two reasons I said no: because I have the utmost respect for Juve and I keep my word.
“Given that, I gladly said no to the call from Madrid.”
When asked whether he was like club stalwarts Gianluigi Buffon or Alessandro Del Piero, Allegri shied away from the links.
“I don’t want to be equated with them because they are players who wrote Juventus’ history,” he added. “I’ve only been here four years.”
Juventus open their 2018/19 Serie A campaign away to Chievo Verona on August 18.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com