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Juve prepare final details for Rafa[/FONT]
Wednesday 21 April, 2010
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Juventus are said to be so close to hiring Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez that only a few details separate them from making an agreement.
La Gazzetta dello Sport understands that Jean-Claude Blanc and an assistant director of Exor, the holding company that owns Juventus, held a conference call with Benitez's agent Manuel Garcia Quillon after Liverpool's 3-0 victory over West Ham United on Monday night.
Quillon apparently told them that Benitez would make his decision clear by the end of the week after the first leg of Liverpool's Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
Juventus' board hope to ratify the decision to hire a new Coach and plans to rebuild the team by May 10, so Benitez has until then to accept.
Moves within Exor are perhaps being made to favour Benitez's arrival in Turin.
John Elkann, the grandson of Juventus' legendary patron Gianni Agnelli, became the President of Fiat yesterday and said that he would have a less hands-on role at the club.
That decision perhaps paves the way for Andrea Agnelli to return to the club in a formal capacity, something the fans would like to see, as he was intimately linked with Juventus' success under Marcello Lippi. [/FONT]