Italy assistant coach Ciro Ferrara left the Azzurri training camp Friday amid mounting reports he will turn his temporary stint at Juventus into a longer one Friday evening.
The former Juve and Italy defender coached the Turin giants as caretaker for the last two days of the Serie A season after Claudio Ranieri was sacked.
Pundits say he is a shoo-in to be appointed Juve coach after Bari coach Antonio Conte dropped out of the running.
The announcement is expected to come late Friday.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi said a replacement would be found if the Azzurri had to do without Ferrara in the World Cup in South Africa next year.
Lippi is fielding an experimental side in a friendly with Northern Ireland Saturday ahead of the upcoming Confederations Cup.
