Italian football chief confirms talks with Guardiola over national team job

Giovanni Malagò, president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), has admitted to ongoing discussions with Pep Guardiola about him coaching the Italian national team. However, Malagò cautioned that the operation is not guaranteed to succeed.

Speaking on the program Vivavoce, Malagò stated that the federation is prepared to make a budgetary exception for Guardiola. "Exceptions have been made, for example, concerning the name that is so present these days: Pep Guardiola," he said. He emphasized that while opening and maintaining dialogue with Guardiola is important, it should not be seen as a lack of consideration for other candidates.

Malagò confirmed that Guardiola is among the options being considered, alongside Roberto Mancini, the coach who led Italy to victory in Euro 2020, and Andrea Pirlo. He also hinted that the list of candidates might include an unexpected name, urging patience for a few more days to reveal all.

The FIGC president, who took office a month ago following the crisis of Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time, expects a decision on Gennaro Gattuso's successor to be made shortly. Gattuso resigned over three months ago after the team failed to qualify for the World Cup.