Roberto Mancini has said he was not approached by Juventus to fill their recent managerial vacancy.
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On Wednesday, Massimiliano Allegri was appointed as Antonio Conte's successor at Juve rather than Mancini, who had been touted as one of the early candidates following Conte's departure.
Mancini says he was never even contacted by the Bianconeri, the club he admitted last season during a news conference in Turin to have been a lifelong fan of.
"The Bianconeri never came looking for me," Mancini told Sky Sport Italia. "I'm too expensive.
"It's hard to judge something from the outside when you're not directly involved, but the squad was back in preseason training with him and there might well have been a problem."
Even Conte would have had problems leading Juve to a fourth straight scudetto, according to Mancini, who no longer sees the Old Lady as No. 1 candidates for the title this season.
"Looking at the way the other clubs are all moving, I'd say Napoli are favourites," said the former Lazio, Inter Milan, Manchester City and Galatasaray coach. "Juventus and Roma are there abouts, but right now, I'd say [Rafael] Benitez's side have an edge.
"As for Inter [Milan], they still need a bit of time. Anything could happen, but I still think they are lagging a bit behind. Like Serie A on a European level.
"The gap to the big sides in Europe is growing because they have huge levels of income which we don't have in Italy
"Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid are raking in 500 million a year. In Italy, we're earning half as much and I think this is the real difference.
"It's harder to buy the best players and pay their wages. Players need paying and the best earn a lot, rightly so, and that is why they are playing in different leagues."