Ex-Juventus striker Luca Toni believes Pep Guardiola will come to coach in Italy after his time at Manchester City is over.
The former Juve man gave an extensive interview with TuttoJuve where we gave his own views on the probable Juventus coach for the new season while recounting his time in black and white.
“I don’t know who the new coach will be, the management has prepared a lineup that includes all the names on which to bet,” Toni told the Juventus fansite. “In my opinion it will start with Guardiola and Klopp first and then all the others.”
“Guardiola? For Juventus, he would be a bargain. Everywhere he went he imposed his football and a new way of playing. He has always won, even if he failed to get close to the Champions League with Manchester City. I think Juve is doing something important for getting closer to the Champions League.
“I am sure that one day Guardiola will come to train in Italy, this he told me again. We will have to see when he gets tired in England. He’s a person who has always honored contracts and has never been fired…..my feeling is that when he end his time with City, he will come to Italy.
“Sarri? Everyone spoke well of Sarri, with Napoli he gave Juve a hard time a couple of years ago and with Chelsea he won the Europa League. His is a purposeful football, he has an important game idea and for him, it could be a great chance to win something important.
“Ronaldo? I honestly think we are talking about a champion, he did well but not very well. Everyone expected him to become top scorer, he struggled a bit at first. When a striker of his caliber arrives, the expectations are that the main forward of Juventus wins the top ranking among scorers.”
Attention turned to Andrea Barzagli’s retirement which leaves only Giorgio Chiellini, who has won 8 titles with Juventus.
“Let’s not forget Bonucci, he is there too. There are already other players who have been in Turin for several years who have already breathed this air, but it certainly remained a hard core. The style of Juventus provides for the players to adapt and not vice versa.”
Juve are still missing a decisive Champions League trophy from their 8 years of success.
“I went to see the final in Madrid and I didn’t like the show, I don’t know if the goal in the first minute could have affected the trend but the impression was really bad. And it was, in my opinion, one of the worst finals of the last few years.
“Juve is no poorer than those who went to the final, this team has everything to win the Champions League and if you want to get to the end, you have to have a bit of luck. Juve are among the most envied in Italy and in Europe, they deserves to raise the Champions League.
“Icardi? In my opinion he is a very important player, I don’t know what happened at the Nerazzurri, only they know that it happened.
“When you play with so many champions, you are not the only one who is in the roster, you need support from your teammates.
“This is why, in my opinion, Icardi has not yet made this leap: at Juve he could do well, he and Ronaldo are very strong but I don’t know if they could be supported properly, everything will depend on the ideas of the new coach and if he may like this type of attacker.
Toni was asked about his time in Turin with the Bianconeri.
“Conte, who is a great coach, unfortunately did not let me play and saw other players ahead of me.
“The only beautiful thing I will always carry with me is to have scored the first goal at the Stadium with Notts County, it was a beautiful emotion.
“I could have arrived a little earlier to make history with the club, as I did for example with Bayern Munich, which is an important team.
“I arrived late and could have stayed a little longer. Could I have arrived earlier? Yes, there was some approach in the year in which Deschamps won Serie B with Juventus.
“I was in a period where I had doing well in front of goal, it was my golden age.”
