CT Italia: Pirlo Is the Favorite, but Support for Silvio Baldini Is Growing After Guardiola’s Rejection

These are decisive days for the appointment of the new head coach of the Italian national team. After Pep Guardiola turned down Maldini and Leonardo, the top favorite for the Azzurri head coaching position is now Andrea Pirlo. The former Juventus coach fully embodies the style of play and soccer philosophy of the new era and is in negotiations with the FIGC. Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini, meanwhile, remain in the background.

Maldini is betting on Pirlo: according to *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, he is ready to offer him a contract through 2030, with a salary of around 1.5 million per season. However, the choice of “Il Maestro” does not satisfy everyone, and in recent hours, support has grown for Silvio Baldini, the current head coach of the Under-21 national team who led the Azzurri in the two friendlies in June.

Several industry insiders—and even a World Cup champion like Marco Tardelli—point to him as the ideal coach for the job: “Andrea is a World Cup champion; he’s recognized abroad; he has experience; and he knows our game inside and out. But I have someone else in mind,” Tardelli told *Il Giornale*. “Silvio Baldini is part of the federation; the Spanish example of Luis de la Fuente should serve as a lesson—he coached all the youth national teams before moving up to the senior squad.” He’s not the only one who thinks this way: on social media, many fans and insiders are naming the Azzurrini head coach as the one to rebuild Italy. “Rather than Pirlo, I’d give Baldini a chance,” is what many are writing.

The failure to reach an agreement with Guardiola has thus completely reopened the head coach debate. The Catalan coach, who had taken a few days to reflect after meeting with Maldini and Leonardo in Barcelona, ultimately confirmed his intention to take a sabbatical year— his first since the 2012–2013 season, which was followed by three years at Bayern Munich and a long ten-year stint at Manchester City. The Federation had tried until the very end, putting together an ambitious offer with a top-tier staff designed to lighten his daily workload, but his desire to step away proved stronger. Guardiola was keen to clarify that his decision has nothing to do with financial considerations, even though the gap between his demands—estimated at around 20 million euros per season—and what the FIGC offered seemed insurmountable.