Didier Deschamps has been without a job since France’s exit at the 2026 World Cup, when his 14-year run as Les Bleus manager ended in a 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place playoff. He is now firmly in the frame at Juventus, where the sporting hierarchy has approached him through intermediaries, according to La Stampa.

The context in Turin is a club in open crisis.

From title talk to eighth place

Juventus sit eighth in Serie A after nine matches, 11 points off joint leaders Inter and Lazio, after Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Daniele De Rossi’s Genoa. Goals from Kingsley Ehizibue in the 12th minute and Tommaso Baldanzi in the 28th condemned Luciano Spalletti to his third league loss of the season and came 10 days after a 3-0 home hammering by Lazio.

Spalletti has not been able to steady a dressing room that collapsed twice inside a fortnight, and his job is described as hanging by a thread.

Read also: Neymar handed unusual ban after falling foul of rule named after Vinicius Jr

Sunday’s ultimatum

Napoli’s visit on Sunday is being treated inside the club as a tipping point. Reports in Italy describe the fixture as decisive for Spalletti, likely to settle whether he survives into November.

A defeat at the Allianz would almost certainly accelerate the move for Deschamps, who carries a layer of history with Juventus that few of the alternatives can match. The Frenchman played at the club as a midfielder in the 1990s and returned as manager in 2006-07, guiding the Bianconeri straight back into Serie A after their Calciopoli relegation.

A rumour, not a done deal

Nothing is close to being signed. The contacts described by La Stampa are preliminary, and Juventus have not moved to end Spalletti’s contract. But a club openly working the market has, in effect, said what it thinks of its own manager, and names of Deschamps’ size are not usually floated in these conversations by accident.

Kick-off against Napoli is on Sunday at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

Read also: Thierry Henry makes bold claim about Mbappe and Lamine Yamal rivalry

Sources: – [2025-26 Serie A](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Serie_A)

Read also: How Inter Milan went from crisis to profit under Oaktree Capital ownership