Pep Guardiola has emerged as a contender to become the next Italy manager, only weeks after leaving Manchester City.
The Azzurri are on the hunt for the next boss having failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup.
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Three big names
And according to a report from Gazzetta dello Sport, Guardiola has been shortlisted by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to succeed Gennaro Gattuso.
The report adds that two former Italy managers, Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini – the latter of whom led the Azzurri to Euro 2020 glory – have also been earmarked to take over.
Gattuso stepped down as boss of the national team following their latest World Cup qualifying failure; he’s since gone on to take over at Lazio.
But another Azzurri legend has already come onboard: Paolo Maldini has been appointed as the FIGC’s technical director and president of the technical sector.
The iconic ex-Italy captain had been in the frame to replace Gattuso but ultimately opted for a backroom role, having never gone into management since retiring from playing back in 2009.
What’s Pep’s next step?
Guardiola departed Man City after a glittering decade-long tenure at the Etihad Stadium.
The Spanish master tactician led the club to six Premier League titles and pulled off an historic treble in the 2022/23 season, delivering their first Champions League triumph.
The 55-year-old has been succeeded in the North West by one of his former assistants, Enzo Maresca.
Guardiola has kept his cards close to his chest in terms of what might come next for him, but a segue into international management does feel like a logical step.
Having won numerous major honours with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City, there’s not much more for Guardiola to achieve in club football.
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‘Maybe a national team’
And he might have offered some clues about his future in an interview he gave back in December 2024, when he was midway through guiding Man City to a record-breaking fourth straight English top-flight title.
Speaking to celebrity chef Dani Garcia, Guardiola said: “I’m not going to manage another team.
“I’m not talking about the long-term future, but what I’m not going to do is leave Manchester City, go to another country and do the same thing as now.
“I wouldn’t have the energy. The thought of starting somewhere else, all the process of training and so on. No, no, no. Maybe a national team, but that’s different.”
Were Guardiola to be appointed manager of Italy, he would make a bit of history.
Only once have the Azzurri been coached by a non-Italian – and that was when Argentine great Helenio Herrera briefly shared the job with Italian Ferruccio Valcareggi in the 1960s.
After the misery of missing out on the World Cup yet again, Italy return to competitive action when they host Belgium in the Nations League at the end of September.
