Fabio Capello has denied having signed any pre-contractual agreement to go to Real Madrid. "It’s fantasy football," he joked.
Reports in Spain yesterday claimed the Juve Coach had already agreed to a move to Los Meringues, including a penalty clause in case he should change his mind, but Capello put the whole business down to hot air.
In playful mood after guiding his side through to the last 16 of the Champions League, the 59-year-old initially left the implication that he might, after all, be on his way.
"I had no idea I’d already signed a pre-contract and a penalty clause," he said. "I really can’t reveal how much the penalty clause is."
But it soon became clear he was reacting ironically to a week of speculation surrounding his future.
He once famously said that you should never reheat the same soup - in other words, never go back to a former club – but he did add that Real Madrid could no longer be considered the same side that he once coached.
"It’s only reheated the soup when you go back after just a year when you know everyone and everyone still knows you," he added, referring to his second stint at Milan. "But from my time at Real there are only three players left."
Was the former Real Coach hinting then that he would be going back to take charge of the Galacticos?
"No, there’s no truth in it at all," he revealed. "It’s fantasy football. The news surprised me as much as anyone else.
"I have a contract with the people here and I am working very well, thank you. Che sarà sarà."
Therefore, no move to Spain appears imminent, particularly with the Italian giants as best equipped as they have been in years to launch an assault on the Champions League.
Juventus director general Luciano Moggi also rubbished the link. "These things are written when there is nothing else to write about," he argued.
"A lot of things have been said about us, such as we are going to buy Ronaldinho. He is a great player, but we have no need for him.
"Roy Keane? We don’t sign players who are over 30 and I think I’m right in saying that he is 34. Therefore, he is not part of our plans."