TURIN, June 14 — Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri turned down an offer to replace Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, saying he had already committed to the Italian champions.

Real appointed former Spain manager Julen Lopetegui on Tuesday, but Allegri had been among the front-runners to take over from Zidane, who quit after winning a remarkable three successive Champions League trophies.

"I said ‘No’ to Real Madrid,” Allegri told Italian news outlet Sky Sport Italia.

"I did it on the phone to Florentino Perez (Madrid president) because I had given my word to (Juventus) president (Andrea) Agnelli.”

"I thanked Florentino for the offer, but said I couldn’t accept it out of the respect I owed to Juventus.”

Allegri has won the Serie A title in each of his four seasons in charge of the Turin club. — Reuters