The possibility of Pep Guardiola taking over as coach of the Italian national team has resurfaced again, after the president of the Italian Football Federation, Giovanni Malago, acknowledged contacts with the Spanish coach, although he did not guarantee that the talks would bear fruit.
In fact, Malago went so far in his statements as to say that in the case of Guardiola, "exceptions" can be made at the budget level to pay his salary.
For its part, the newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport" reported today, Thursday, that the Catalan coach requested 20 million euros annually to coach the Italian national team, twice the amount that the Italian Football Federation is said to be willing to pay.
According to the Italian newspaper, this request aims to make it impossible for Italy to accept, as Guardiola had previously hinted that he prefers to take a break after 10 years spent with Manchester City, before starting another project.
The newspaper insists that Guardiola remains the preferred candidate for the sports directors in Italy, Paolo Maldini and Leonardo, but not at this price.
From here begins the search for a new coach for the Azzurri, and regardless of Guardiola, Andrea Pirlo is the most prominent candidate, followed by Roberto Mancini and then Antonio Conte.
It is noted that the Italian national team failed to qualify for the World Cup in the last 3 editions: 2018, 2022 and 2026, causing Italian football to enter a severe crisis that requires a radical solution, so the thinking turned to Guardiola in order to return the Italians to the world map.