Maldini confirms approaching Guardiola, Ancelotti over vacant Italy job
Paulo Maldini, the new director of the Italian football federation has confirmed that he has approached former Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola over the possibility of taking over as the new coach of Italy.
The former international defender who made this known during a press conference on Thursday after a coalition meeting of 20 top flight clubs in Italy, also disclosed that current Brazil national team coach Carlo Ancelotti was also contacted for the job.
According to Maldini, the ideal time to engage a new coach for the national team is by the end of this week, but there is a need to be patient to select the right person for the job.
“The ideal would be to have the coach by the end of this week, but perhaps even more ideal would be to wait for the person we really want,” said Maldini.
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“There is a certain hurry, but not a hasty one.
“We cannot give news on what is happening today. You know one of our objectives,” added Maldini.
“We cannot deny that we also spoke to Carlo Ancelotti before talking to Pep, and it felt only right to start with those we considered to be the best in the world. So we needed to get a general idea of their availability.”
The Italy national team manager job remains open following Gennaro Gattuso’s resignation months ago after falling to qualify the Azzurri’s for the just concluded 2026 World Cup.
Fresh reports also suggests that if top international targets are unavailable, the Italian football federation will consider domestic options, including former Italy coach Roberto Mancini and Italy legend Andrea Pirlo.
