The Italian national football team has been in a bit of a tailspin lately. Ever since their failure to qualify for the World Cup; they've been on the look out for a new coach. The search took many turns and led to abrupt exits in the boardroom.
Italy initially approached Carlo Ancelotti to become their national team manager before holding talks with Pep Guardiola. The Azzurri have been without a head coach since Gennaro Gattuso resigned in April following the country's failure to qualify for a third successive World Cup.
Earlier this week, Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president, Giovanni Malago, said talks had been held with Guardiola, who left Manchester City this summer after 10 years, and "exceptions" could be made for his salary.
Last Thursday, FIGC technical director, Paolo Maldini, said Italy first approached their former player Ancelotti; who is currently in charge of Brazil.
"We cannot hide the fact that we also spoke to Carlo before talking to Pep," said Maldini during a news conference. "Frankly, it seemed right to start with those we considered the best in the world."
Ancelotti, a former team-mate of Paolo Maldini for both Italy and AC Milan, took charge of Brazil in 2025 and extended his contract in May until the 2030 World Cup.
Despite a World Cup last-16 exit at the hands of Norway, the Brazilian Football Confederation confirmed the 67-year-old will remain in charge of the five-time world champions.
Maldini, a former defender who earned 126 caps for Italy, said FIGC would ideally appoint a coach by the end of the week but the priority was getting the right man.
As Italian news outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport reported, Guardiola was seeking an annual salary of €20m (£17m), which is double what Italy was offering.
"We honestly cannot provide any updates on what is happening at the moment," added Maldini when asked about the report.
Guardiola, 55, led City to six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups and the Champions League during a trophy-laden decade in England.
However, Pep Guardiola turned down the chance to take the Italy head coach job, according to Sky in Italy, with Andrea Pirlo closing in on the role.
The Italian legend is set to take over after Guardiola gave his response to the FIGC on Thursday night, with Sky in Italy reporting his decision was down to personal reasons that go beyond football.
The FIGC had met with Guardiola to try and convince him to succeed Gennaro Gattuso as national team head coach and were willing to make an exceptional adjustment to their budget to hire him.
FIGC officials Paolo Maldini and his advisor Leonardo met with Guardiola over three days, explaining their project for the national team moving forward.
In their discussions with the former Manchester City manager in Barcelona, Maldini and Leonardo presented an idea that went beyond simply offering him a coaching role.
In the FIGC's vision, Guardiola would have been the central figure in an 'Azzurro project' aiming to rebuild Italian football on solid foundations. Italy didn't even qualify for the expanded World Cup this summer.
It would've been a complete overhaul that would have involved not only the senior national team but all other national teams. The Catalonian is understood to have listened attentively to Maldini and Leonardo's offer.
Now, Pirlo will terminate his contract with United FC, a Dubai-based club in the United Arab Emirates, ahead of finalising his agreement to become Italy head coach.
However, Pirlo was controversially turned down by the FIGC president. Pirlo's role as a global ambassador for Russian bookmaker Fonbet prompted objections to his potential appointment from some FIGC officials and politicians due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Pirlo, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, defended his involvement with the company in an Instagram post.
He posted: "After learning last night that I am no longer the candidate to lead the Italian national team, I believe it is my duty to clarify a few points."
"In the last few days I have witnessed with great bitterness the debate that has developed around my name and the possibility of taking over the role of head coach of the Italian national team."m
"During my career, first as a football player and now as a coach, I have always carried out my activity in full respect to the laws of the countries I worked in and the contracts I signed."
He signed an ambassadorial agreement with Fonbet in October and said the collaboration was exclusively commercial and sporting in nature.
"To attribute a political meaning to such a collaboration means to attribute convictions that I have never expressed and that do not belong to me," added Pirlo, who is currently managing UAE Pro League club United FC in Dubai.
Consequently, Paolo Maldini has left his role as technical director of the FIGC following the decision not to appoint Andrea Pirlo as Italy head coach, according to Sky in Italy.
Both Maldini and his adviser, Leonardo, quit just 16 days after the FIGC made the official announcement of their appointment.
It was decided on Sunday that talks with Pirlo, Maldini and Leonardo's pick to be Italy's head coach, would not proceed due to concerns over his links to a Russian gambling firm.
Maldini and Leonardo were brought in to lead a huge shake-up at the FIGC in the wake of the Azzuri missing out on World Cup qualification for a third consecutive tournament.
The decision to resign came shortly after former Italy international Pirlo announced he was no longer a candidate for the national team job, following fierce opposition over his commercial ties to a Russian betting company.
His prospective appointment had become increasingly untenable in the days leading up to his withdrawal, with the controversy generating significant backlash across Italian football and media circles.
Pirlo had been Maldini's primary choice to take charge after Pep Guardiola had already turned down the federation's initial approach. That left Maldini with few obvious alternatives lined up and it now appears the collapse of the Pirlo appointment was enough to prompt both men to walk away from their newly created roles entirely.
The double departure creates an immediate crisis for newly appointed FIGC president Giovanni Malago, leaving the federation without a clear national team strategy at what is widely regarded as its lowest point in nearly 40 years. Malago now faces the unenviable task of steadying the ship, having only recently taken up his own position at the head of Italian football's governing body.
The turmoil follows a difficult period for Italian football more broadly, coming on the back of early European exits for Italian clubs last season and a third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup.
The resignations only compound a sense of instability that has gripped the federation in recent months; with question marks now hanging over the entire process of rebuilding the national team from the top down.
Roberto Mancini has been named the head coach of Italy’s national team for a second time; tasked with revitalising the Azzurri, who have missed out on the last three World Cups, FIGC president Giovanni Malago said Tuesday.
Technical director Paolo Maldini, who reportedly threatened to resign if Mancini was appointed, has been replaced by Claudio Ranieri.
"Today we have a new coach and a new technical director," Malago told reporters, announcing another press conference with Mancini and Ranieri.
"I felt that the person who should be and become the Italian national football team’s head coach was Roberto Mancini, for a whole series of considerations for which, as always, I honestly take responsibility," he added.
The 61-year-old Mancini was previously Italy boss from 2018 until 2023, leading it to the Euro 2020 title. He has been preferred to another ex-national team coach, Antonio Conte.
Maldini had also apparently said he would resign if Conte was chosen, reportedly wanting Brazil-born former Italy midfielder Thiago Motta to be given the job.
Andrea Pirlo, who had been tipped to take charge, announced on Monday that he was no longer a candidate.
The former midfielder had come under heavy criticism over his controversial ties with a Russian sports-betting company and what detractors viewed as a limited coaching resume.
Mancini’s first match in charge will be a Nations League match against Belgium on 25 September in a group which also includes Turkey and France.
It's never a good image when a team has to go through all of this; especially if the public has gotten word of it. I believe it's best to keep everything under wraps to protect their privacy.
The resignations was a bit extreme in my eyes. One shouldn't quit because they didn't get what they want. They should get to grips with it and move on. Not everyone can get what they want in life; regardless of status.