Guardiola to be Italy national team coach

The Italian Football Federation has held talks with legendary coach Pep Guardiola for the position of Italy national team coach. However, the head of the organization confirmed the news and said, “I am not sure if it will really happen or not.”

The contact was revealed to Giovanni Malago in an interview published on the website ‘Cronaca di Spogliatoio ‘ (Dressing Room Chronicles) on Wednesday.

Asked whether it was possible to increase the coach’s salary budget in Guardiola’s case, he said, “Yes, and that would be an exceptional decision for obvious reasons.”

He added, “I’m not going to go into detail, but it’s not certain that it will happen. Nevertheless, I still think it was the right thing to do. It was important to start the discussion and keep it going.”

Guardiola has direct experience of Italian football, as he played for Brescia and AS Roma between 2001 and 2003.

Italian football, already going through a tough time, suffered a further setback last March when its men’s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row. Italy has won the tournament four times so far.

Guardiola, 55, left Manchester City at the end of last season after winning six Premier League titles and the Champions League in his illustrious decade at the Etihad Stadium.

According to Italian media reports, former Italy stars Andrea Pirlo and Roberto Mancini, who led the Azzurri to Euro 2020, are also being considered for the national team’s coaching job. Italy will face Belgium in the Nations League on September 25.