Champions League club confirm exit of highly-rated manager

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 23 May 2024

Serie A outfit Bologna confirm that highly-rated head coach Thiago Motta has left the club ahead of his expected appointment as Juventus manager.

Serie A powerhouses Bologna have announced that Thiago Motta will be leaving the club ahead of his expected appointment as Juventus head coach.

The former Italy international - who had previously taken charge of Genoa, Spezia and the youth team of Paris Saint-Germain - has been the mastermind of Bologna's unexpected qualification for the 2024-25 Champions League.

Under Motta's tutelage, the Rossoblu have accrued 68 points from 37 matches this season to sit third in the table, thereby ending their 59-year exile from Europe's premier club competition.

Owing to the 41-year-old's exceptional work at Dall'Ara, he has inevitably been linked with a number of top clubs ahead of this summer's managerial merry-go-round, including Premier League giants Manchester United.

However, Motta is now expected to take the reins at Bologna's Serie A rivals Juventus from the start of the 2024-25 season, and the erstwhile midfielder's contract with Bologna expires at the end of the season.

In a statement on Monday, Bologna announced that Motta would not be extending his contract at Dall'Ara, and he will take charge of the Rossoblu for the final time in Friday's Serie A clash with Genoa.

Official statement from the Club 📄
— Bologna FC 1909 (@BolognaFC1909en) May 23, 2024

Motta 'agrees three-year Juventus contract'

"This morning, Thiago Motta told the Club that he would not be renewing his contract with Bologna FC 1909. Now informed of his decision, the Club would like to thank Thiago for the incredible work he has done during his time here and wish him all the best for his career going forward," Bologna said.

Bologna president Joey Saputo added that Motta's name would forever be in the club's history, saying: "In the past two years, I have got to know a well-prepared and winning coach. He has instilled a brilliant style of play in this time.

"Reaching the Champions League means he and all these players will go down in our Club's history. I would have liked him to stay at Bologna but I can only ever thank him and his staff for these amazing two seasons and I wish him the best for the future."

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, it is now only a matter of time before Motta is announced as the new manager of Juventus, who will appoint him on a three-year deal until the summer of 2027.

The former Genoa and Spezia boss will succeed the recently-sacked Massimiliano Allegri, who was given the boot due to his meltdown after Juve's Coppa Italia final victory over Atalanta BC.

Bologna sit level on points with Juventus in the Serie A table but possess a superior goal difference to the Bianconeri, who end their domestic season against Monza on Saturday evening.