How Pep Guardiola came close to becoming Italy coach

August 10, 2026 • 0 • min read

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Paolo Maldini reveals Pep Guardiola came close to becoming Italy coach

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Pep Guardiola came close to accepting the Italy job, Maldini says.
Money was not the issue; Guardiola was exhausted after 10 years in England.
Guardiola even studied Italy's squads and sketched possible formations.

Paolo Maldini has revealed that Pep Guardiola came remarkably close to becoming the next head coach of Italy, even going as far as sketching out possible formations during talks with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

The former AC Milan captain, who briefly served as the FIGC's technical director, said Guardiola was genuinely tempted by the project but ultimately turned down the opportunity because of exhaustion following a decade at the top of the Premier League.

Maldini also rejected suggestions that Guardiola's decision was driven by money, insisting that finances were never a serious obstacle during their discussions.

Maldini and Leonardo travelled to Barcelona to meet Guardiola

Maldini and his advisor Leonardo travelled to Barcelona to present Guardiola with an ambitious plan for the Italian national team.

What had initially looked like a long shot became a serious negotiation. The FIGC wanted to build a new technical structure around the national team, with the project extending beyond the senior side and into Italy's youth teams.

Maldini recalled the meeting in an interview with Corriere della Sera, explaining that Guardiola had previously expressed an interest in eventually coaching a national team.

He had expressed the idea of wanting to coach a national team to a few friends of his.

We went to visit him in Barcelona, we had lunch together, we talked for a whole day.

According to Maldini, Guardiola was not merely listening to the proposal. He was actively engaging with the footballing details.

He was very tempted. He came very close to accepting. He even started writing formations down on pieces of paper.

The meeting was therefore far more substantive than a preliminary conversation. Earlier reporting had also confirmed that Maldini and Leonardo spent several days in Spain discussing the FIGC project with Guardiola.

Money was not the reason Guardiola said no

One of the biggest rumours surrounding the proposed appointment was Guardiola's alleged salary demand.

Reports in Italy had suggested that the former Manchester City manager could command as much as €20 million per season to take charge of the Azzurri.

Maldini, however, dismissed that claim outright.

Absolutely not. Money was never an issue.

Maldini added that Guardiola had taken an unusually relaxed position on his potential salary.

"Give me one euro less than what the previous coach took and I'm fine."

The revelation is significant because it changes the interpretation of the failed negotiations. Rather than being a case of the FIGC being unable to match Guardiola financially, Maldini portrays the decision as a personal one.

That broadly matches reporting from the period of the negotiations, when Guardiola was understood to be considering a break from coaching after leaving City.

Guardiola was exhausted after a decade in the Premier League

For Maldini, the decisive factor was simple: Guardiola needed to stop.

The Spaniard had spent a decade working at the highest level of English football with City, following his earlier spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Because of exhaustion. Guardiola is coming off the back of 10 gruelling years in the Premier League. He's had back surgery, he wants to rest.

There was, however, considerably more behind the proposal than simply finding a new senior coach.

Maldini said the FIGC and Guardiola had begun examining the structure of the national teams from the Under-17s upwards.

But it was a very serious discussion, we studied the squads from the U17s upwards.

That detail underlines the scale of the project. Guardiola was not being approached merely to coach Italy's senior side; the broader ambition was to establish a consistent footballing philosophy throughout the national-team system.

The FIGC's public messaging at the time similarly emphasised the desire for a coach whose ideas would align with the federation's wider technical vision.

Maldini then turned to Andrea Pirlo

Once Guardiola declined the proposal, Maldini's attention turned to another former Italy great: Andrea Pirlo.

Pirlo had been Maldini's preferred alternative and fitted the philosophy the former defender wanted to introduce. The idea was to appoint a younger coach who could promote a more technical and attacking approach whilst working within the federation's broader restructuring project.

Maldini said the choice was discussed with FIGC President Giovanni Malagò throughout the process.

So then we went with Andrea. Malagò knew everything, we'd informed him step-by-step.

Pirlo's potential appointment, however, quickly became controversial because of scrutiny surrounding his commercial relationship with a Russian betting company.

Maldini defended his former Milan and Italy team-mate, arguing that there was no legal barrier preventing him from taking the job.

We didn't know about it. Public opinion has done its job. But, there was nothing on a legal level that would have prevented Andrea from becoming the head coach of the national team.

Maldini also claimed Pirlo was prepared to end the relationship.

The controversy ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Pirlo plan and was followed by the resignations of Maldini and Leonardo from their FIGC roles.

A missed opportunity for Italy

Maldini's account offers a rare glimpse into how close Italy came to appointing one of the most influential coaches of the modern era.

Guardiola's rejection was not the result of a failed financial negotiation or a lack of interest in the project. By Maldini's account, the coach was sufficiently engaged to begin thinking tactically about Italy and its youth structure.

Ultimately, though, the timing was wrong.

After a decade of intense club football, Guardiola wanted time away from the game. The opportunity to lead Italy was compelling, but not compelling enough to override that need for a break.

For Maldini, the episode also illustrates how ambitious his brief was at the FIGC. Rather than simply finding a short-term solution for the senior national team, he and Leonardo were attempting to establish a coherent footballing identity from the youth levels upwards.

Guardiola may have said no, but Maldini's revelations suggest that, for a brief period, the idea of Pep Guardiola leading Italy was much more than a fantasy.