Zidane Says He'd Love to Coach Juventus One Day

Zinedine Zidane was in Italy to talk about France. He ended up talking about Juventus. Asked at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday whether he would like to coach the Turin club one day, the France manager did not hide behind the fixture in front of him — Italy at San Siro on Thursday night, top spot in Nations League Group A1 on the line. "Yes, but you never know," he said. "I'd love one day to be at Juventus, why not, if I continue working as a coach." The words were said on Italian soil, on the eve of an Italy game, and they will travel the hundred miles to Turin on their own. Juventus stories live on the Serie A front — this one starts there too.

The reason he gave was a name from another era. Zidane arrived at Juventus from Bordeaux in 1996 and, by his own account, started badly: "At the start I didn't play well in Turin, the fans and the media didn't love me. I suffered a little, but Lippi told me I would play for his Juve. I owe him everything." Marcello Lippi, he said, "taught me we must never stop, we've always got to keep pushing" — and the schooling was daily. "We spent so much of our day working on tactics with Lippi in training, so for someone like me who always wants the ball at his feet, it means a steep learning curve. A master like Lippi taught me so much on a tactical level. He also put so much faith in me, and I tried to repay him on the field." Five seasons in Turin brought two league titles before the world-record move to Real Madrid in 2001. Lippi went on to beat France in the 2006 World Cup final, the night Zidane was sent off. The debt, apparently, survived all of it.

Timing is what turns a fond answer into a story. Juventus are seventh in Serie A on 18 points, eleven behind leaders Lazio — their worst start since 2021-22. On Sunday they twice had to come from behind to draw 2-2 at Fiorentina: Mateo Pellegrino headed the hosts in front after four minutes, Nick Woltemade levelled, Alieu Njie put Fiorentina back ahead, and Bremer's header on 66 minutes rescued the point. It was a fightback, and fightbacks are not the complaint. The complaint is that a club of this size keeps needing them in November.

None of this makes Zidane a candidate for anything this season, and the piece of copy matters: there is no vacancy in Turin, no approach has been reported, and Zidane has a group to finish with France — unbeaten in it, with Italy in Paris the only points his side have dropped. Didier Deschamps, another former Juventus midfielder, has already taken the job once, which is part of why the answer resonates: the route from that midfield to that bench exists. Zidane also did the rest of his press conference properly. France will be "competitive" without Kylian Mbappé, whose absence is a zero-risk call — "Mbappé will not be there, he felt some pain and we generally try to avoid risks for the players, but we hope to have him on Sunday" — Warren Zaire-Emery will play in midfield, and Inter's Andy Diouf will again be used at left-back, a role he does not play for his club. The Juventus line sat inside a working press conference, not a come-and-get-me plea. That is exactly why it will be remembered in Turin.

While the quote travels, the actual Juventus job is being done in the transfer market. Football Italia reported on Wednesday that Luciano Spalletti wants a physical No. 9 who can hold the ball up and give his side an outlet under pressure — a profile the club has not really had since Dušan Vlahović left, with neither Randal Kolo Muani nor Woltemade scoring regularly. Gianluca Scamacca is on the January shortlist: Spalletti picked him regularly as Italy coach, the 27-year-old has played only 287 league minutes for Atalanta this season because Maurizio Sarri prefers the in-form Nikola Krstović, and his contract to June 2028 makes a January move plausible on the right terms. Juventus chief football officer Frederic Massara is expected to make first contact with Atalanta sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli in the coming weeks, with Alexander Sørloth and Folarin Balogun also listed as options. Transfer reporter Nicolò Schira reports separately that Juventus have already asked Atalanta for information on Scamacca, with chief executive Giovanni Carnevali — who worked with the striker at Sassuolo — personally pushing for the move.

Thursday comes first for both men in this story. Zidane's France can confirm top spot at San Siro; Spalletti's Juventus return from the break at home to Venezia on Sunday November 22, a fixture that sits in the must-win column for a side eleven points back. Francisco Conceição, back in full training this week after injury, is part of the side Spalletti is trying to settle. The Juventus bench has one occupant, and his name is on the January plans. But the most famous player Lippi ever trusted has now said, in public and in Italy, that he would love that bench one day — and Turin has never been a city that forgets a sentence like that.