It's true: Italy is seriously considering appointing Pep Guardiola!
Pep Guardiola spent 10 years in England, culminating in 20 titles with Manchester City and a vast footballing legacy for the legendary coach. Now, for the first time since 2012, Pep Guardiola is without a club, and taking advantage of this opportunity, the Italian Football Federation has announced its desire to sign the coach.
The Italian Football Federation is ready to sign Pep
The state of football in Italy is at rock bottom. The national team has not qualified for the World Cup for three consecutive editions, and they have not even made it past the group stage since the 2006 World Cup. This is truly unacceptable for Italian football.
Recent reports in Italy indicate that the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) is keen to sign Pep Guardiola, despite the financial difficulties involved. Giovanni Malago, who succeeded Gabriele Gravina as president of the FIGC, recently stated that they have contacted the legendary Spanish coach to discuss him taking over the position.
Exceptions have been made, exceptions that for example may concern the name that is so overbearing in these hours: Pep Guardiola, Exceptions for obvious reasons that I am not here to explain, but it is not certain that this thing will go through. Absolutely not (are Guardiola, Mancini and Pirlo the only contenders). We think about a certain profile and certainly these names fall into that category."
Gabriele Gravina told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Paolo Maldini had met with Pep Guardiola to convince him to take the position!
Italy's new technical director Paolo Maldini met with Pep Guardiola last week in Barcelona to convince him to take over the position, as reported by the Daily Mail. The Italian Football Federation and everyone in charge of football in Italy are optimistic about the negotiations with Pep, because the coach has previously lived in Italy, and this could play a key role if he agrees to the offer, as Pep played for Brescia and Roma, and he previously stated that his time in Italy greatly influenced his coaching career later on.
However, what's confusing is that Pep Guardiola himself recently stated that he would take a fairly long break before returning to coaching, as he told Fox Sports, âFrom a mental standpoint, I donât miss anything at all. I started managing at 37 and my entire life has been bound to football. Now, I want to try and discover life, to be happy doing other things that have nothing to do with footballâ.