Pep Guardiola as Italy’s Head Coach, FIGC Ready for Anything: Malagò Spills the Beans

The FIGC is in talks with Pep Guardiola for the position of head coach of the Azzurri. It was the Federation’s president himself, Giovanni Malagò, who confirmed in an interview with Cronache di Spogliatoio that discussions are underway with the Catalan coach, who is currently without a team following his departure from Manchester City. Guardiola has already spoken with technical director Paolo Maldini and advisor Leonardo and has taken a few days to decide.

“We’re talking about financial aspects and a massive budget; to say we’ll have to tighten our belts is an understatement. Some exceptions have been made—exceptions that, for example, may concern the name that’s dominating the headlines right now: Pep Guardiola. Exceptions for obvious reasons that I won’t go into here, but it’s not a given that this will come to fruition,” specified the head of Italian soccer.

“I believe, however, that it was still the right and important thing to do to open a dialogue and keep it alive, keep it warm,” Malagò continued. “It’s absolutely not a lack of respect or consideration toward other candidates, because discussions about the others have already begun, and then one might opt for someone who, generationally speaking, belongs to a—let’s call it—more recent school of thought, and there the issue is very subjective.”

In addition to Guardiola, Andrea Pirlo and Roberto Mancini are also on the list. But Malagò doesn’t want to commit to anything: “Is the field limited to them? No, absolutely not; we’re looking for a certain profile, and these names certainly fall into that category.”

Andrea Pirlo is the name that has gained the most traction in recent weeks. 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 at Fatih Karagümrük and Sampdoria, and his potential appointment with the Azzurri would not present any financial obstacles. A meeting between Malagò and Pirlo himself is expected in the coming days to gauge their alignment on the technical project.