CT Italia: Guardiola Likely to Turn Down Maldini—Because the Dream Has Already Faded
The dream of seeing Pep Guardiola on the Italian national team’s bench may vanish right away. In a surprise move, Paolo Maldini, the new technical director at Coverciano, and advisor Leonardo flew to Barcelona to meet with the Catalan coach, who has just left Manchester City.
Maldini and Leonardo want to leave no stone unturned and have tried to convince Guardiola to take on a new challenge: the meeting was scheduled specifically to gauge the coach’s availability and the feasibility of hiring him. According to reports from Sky and *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, however, Guardiola appears firmly inclined to say no: his intention is to take a break after his long stint in Manchester. The former Barcelona coach has reportedly already turned down several offers, all of which were far more lucrative than the one on the table from Rome.
The alternatives now on the table are Antonio Conte, Andrea Pirlo, and Roberto Mancini—the three names that have been most frequently mentioned in recent weeks as potential new head coaches for the Azzurri.
Despite the difficulties, Italian Football Federation President Giovanni Malagò has sought to keep all options open, reiterating to Sky Sport that the shortlist for the Azzurri head coaching position is by no means limited to the names already circulating. “There may be other possible names,” declared the head of the Italian Football Federation, hinting that there could be further twists and turns before the official announcement. This stance confirms that the meeting in Barcelona was not merely a preliminary sounding-out, but a concrete move by a federation seeking to explore ambitious solutions.
Among the alternative candidates, Andrea Pirlo is the name that has gained the most traction in recent hours. Maldini, who played alongside the former playmaker for eight seasons at Milan, considers him a modern coach, endowed with vision and personality. Pirlo is currently coaching in Dubai, following stints on the benches of Fatih Karagümrük and Sampdoria, and his potential appointment with the Azzurri would face no financial obstacles: a meeting between Malagò and Pirlo himself is expected in the coming days to assess their alignment on the technical project.
