Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed he will sign a Juventus contract “this week or next” and admitted he “never thought about leaving”.

The former Milan coach has led Juventus to two consecutive Scudetti, and general manager Giuseppe Marotta described his new deal as “a formality” earlier today.

“A renewal? I don’t have a pen…” Allegri joked in an interview with Rai.

“I’m sure some tobacconists will be open. There are no problems with the club, and I never had doubts or thought about leaving.

“This week or next we’ll sit around a table and find an agreement.”

The Turin side have now won five Scudetti in a row, and can win the double again if they beat Milan in the Coppa Italia final.

“We have three games left now, and the Coppa Italia final to win against Milan, who caused us problems in the League. Last season Allegri also led them to the final of the Champions League – the first Italian side to reach that stage since Inter in 2010.

“This year 10 new players came in, and the club has worked on bringing in talented young players, but mixed with players of international quality.

“We’re in our first year [of a new cycle], and we have a great future ahead.

“Next year we’ll be competitive in the League and play a great Champions League, because we did well until the end in the Last 16 against Bayern [Munich] this year.

“We went out against the Germans, but it made us aware of our future.”

Best Italian coach

Marcello Lippi retires

Marcello Lippi says Allegri is not just a good coach but a great one.

Meanwhile, former Juventus coach Marcello Lippi, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, has described Allegri as “the best Italian Coach”.

“He’s been great, not just good,” Lippi told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“He’s had continuous growth, you could say frightening, and today he’s the best Italian Coach.

“He has everything it takes, and I don’t just mean technical and tactical competence, which is perhaps the least important thing.

“He’s also very good at managing rotation, making everyone feel important and part of the project – changes weren’t just for emergencies.

“I don’t know about any mistakes, but with [Paulo] Dybala I don’t think he got it wrong. When you have a young player, however promising, there are steps they need to take to mature.

“Allegri made him realise how he has to play.”

Juventus recovery

After a dreadful start to the season which saw them sitting in 12th place with just 12 points after 10 matches, Lippi admitted he did not expect Juvemtus to be champions.

“In all honesty, no,” he said. “But I did say that you should be careful before writing this team off for dead, that in the end they’d be fighting for the Scudetto as always.

“They’re used to winning with with a lot of points advantage. When they found themselves down like that, the players would have said ‘where is it written that we can’t recover’?

“And they recovered more than 20 points.

“This is a Scudetto by everyone, as always. There’s no such thing as a one-man Scudetto, if even someone scores 30 goals like [Napoli’s Gonzalo] Higuain.

“This is a title of historic champions like [Gigi] Buffon, who transmitted the right values to the new guys. And it’s the Scudetto of a Coach who embodies the culture of Italian football: solid, wise, always ready.

“He made sure the team was focused and never lost confidence, even when there was a danger of that happening.

“I find it hard to believe that this Juventus won’t continue winning.

“Above all because, as I jokingly said, they gave everyone else a head start and they weren’t able to take advantage.

“I don’t know if that will happen again.”