Negotiations with Guardiola to persuade him to coach Italy

Media reports revealed serious negotiations with Spanish coach Pep Guardiola to persuade him to coach the Italian national team, in an effort to correct the team’s path after its failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in the last three editions.

Sky Italy reported that Paolo Maldini, the new coach of the Italian Football Federation, and Leonardo, the federation’s advisor, visited Guardiola in Barcelona over the weekend to discuss the possibility of contracting with him.

The report indicated that there are no initial indications regarding Guardiola’s agreement to take over responsibility, after his departure from English Manchester City, within whose walls he spent 10 years.

The Italian national team, a four-time world champion, failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row last March, which led to the ouster of team coach Gennaro Gattuso, team manager Gianluigi Buffon, and Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina.

Giovanni Malago, former president of the Italian Olympic Committee and head of the organizing committee for the Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina, was elected as the new president of the Italian Football Federation, and Malago hired Milan legend Maldini as the federation’s technical director.

The Italian national team remains without a coach, and signing Guardiola will be a strong boost in light of the great achievements achieved by the Spanish coach, who won three Champions League titles with Manchester City and Barcelona, ​​in addition to 12 local league titles with the same two clubs in addition to the German club Bayern Munich.

Malago refused to comment on the possibility of contracting with Guardiola, adding on Sky that the list of candidates would not only include the duo Roberto Mancini and Andrea Pirlo.

It is noteworthy that Mancini led the Italian national team to win the European Nations title in 2021 while assuming responsibility during the period between 2018 and 2023.

As for Pirlo, who won the 2006 World Cup title as a player with the Italian national team, he did not shine in his coaching career with Juventus and Sampdoria.