Juventus are considering bringing Massimiliano Allegri back to the club in order to replace under-fire Andrea Pirlo as manager.

The Old Lady have failed to maintain their decade-long dominance of Serie A under Pirlo, failing to mount a serious title challenge despite having secured the Scudetto in each of the previous nine seasons.

Juventus, who were one of the chief architects of the doomed Super League, are even facing the prospect of missing out on Champions League football, which would almost inevitably spell the end of Pirlo’s reign. Various reports have already suggested he’ll be sacked if the club don’t secure a top four finish.

Gian Piero Gasperini, Luciano Spalletti and Simone Inzaghi have all been named as contenders for the role should Pirlo be relieved of his duties this summer, but Gazzetta dello Sport state that it’s former boss Allegri who is the frontrunner.

He’s already been a guest of chairman Andrea Agnelli in recent weeks, fuelling speculation that he may return to Juventus at the end of the campaign.

Allegri spent five years as manager between 2014 and 2019, leading the club to five of the aforementioned nine Scudettos. But he was unable to lead Juventus to Europe’s biggest prize, and it’s now 25 years since La Vecchia Signora won the Champions League.

Such rumours may prove to be immaterial if Juve do book their place in next season’s Champions League, with the club’s hierarchy – namely chief football officer Fabio Paratici – continuing to publicly back the under-fire Pirlo.

Juventus currently sit fourth in Serie A with just five games of the season to play, level on points with fifth place Milan. The Old Lady’s run-in isn’t particularly favourable, with a daunting clash against runaway leaders Inter to come on the penultimate game of the season.

They also face off against Milan at the Allianz Stadium in the coming week, with the result likely to have a huge bearing on whether they do secure Champions League football or not.