A surprising name emerges as a possible new national coach of Italy. None other than Pep Guardiola (55) would be very high on the Azzurri’s wish list. Although there are still stumbling blocks, Guardiola’s arrival in Italy does not seem like a utopia.
It is a theme in all major European media. Pep Guardiola and the Italian national team are suddenly very closely linked.
The ball started rolling earlier this week when former defender Leonardo Bonucci, a staff member at Italy, mentioned Guardiola’s name to ESPN as a dream successor to Gennaro Gattuso. “If we really want a radical change in our national team, I think Pep Guardiola is the right man. I realize that that will not be an easy task, but dreaming costs nothing.”
Guardiola himself, on the other hand, does. The Spaniard still has a current contract with Manchester City until mid-2027, where he earns a gross annual salary of around 25 million euros. Too ambitious for the Italian Football Association. For comparison: Roberto Mancini, who became European champion with Italy in 2021, earned… 3 million euros net after that triumph.
On paper it is ‘mission impossible’ for Italy, but the arrival of Guardiola is less impossible than it seems. First and foremost, it is increasingly looking like Guardiola will leave City after this season, especially if he wins the Premier League for the seventh time in ten years. Enzo Maresca and Vincent Kompany are most often mentioned as potential successors these days.
Already missed three World Cup final rounds
In addition, Guardiola has indicated several times that he would like to coach a national team one day. “I would like to experience a major tournament as a national coach. And certainly a World Cup,” he said in 2021. For that World Cup, Guardiola will find a greater challenge in no other country than in Italy, which has already missed three final rounds in a row.
And then there is perhaps the most important asset: Guardiola’s personal bond with Italy. As a player he had the time of his life at Brescia, where he played with Roberto Baggio, among others, in the twilight of his career. To this day a good friend of Guardiola, like many others from his Brescia period.
Guardiola also briefly played for AS Roma. He also speaks some Italian and has never hidden his love for the country. In 2018 he said: “I can see myself being a coach in Italy. Why not?” Statements that are now of course eagerly revived in Italian media such as La Gazzetta Dello Sport to strengthen the belief in Guardiola’s arrival.
The main question, however, is whether all the pieces of the puzzle will fit together. If Guardiola actually leaves City, would he rather take a rest after ten intense years in England? Or are the Italians so convincing that he immediately embarks on a new adventure – with enormous pressure? And what about the yawning financial gap?
In the boot, Guardiola would have been God from day one. And if there is something that the Spaniard is sensitive to…
Guardiola himself has not yet responded to the rumors surrounding him and Italy. There are no official negotiations in the Italian media yet. From a charm offensive, on the other hand…
