Italy search for new coach after Pirlo scandal: Conte, Mancini, Pioli and Palladino | OneFootball

With Andrea Pirlo increasingly unlikely to be offered the Italy job due to his Russian betting association, the search resumes with Antonio Conte, Roberto Mancini, Stefano Pioli and Raffaele Palladino among candidates.

The Azzurri had already seen Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola turn down the proposal, so technical director Paolo Maldini and special advisor Leonardo turned to Pirlo.

However, an outcry in Italy over his global brand ambassador role for a Russian betting company has sparked tension and even the threat of legal action if he was given the Nazionale job.

Italy looking for Plan D

FIGC President Giovanni Malago (left) with coach Roberto Mancini (right): @coppa_canottieri via Instagram.

They are now forced to look even further down the list to Plan D, which might mean the return to the bench of either Conte or Mancini.

Of the two, Mancini would be more eager and certainly cheaper, but as former Azzurri bosses, they won’t be too pleased to be considered behind Pirlo in the pecking order.

NAPLES, ITALY – JULY 12: Paolo Maldini AC Milan Technical director and Stefano Pioli AC Milan look on coach before the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan at Stadio San Paolo on July 12, 2020 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

La Gazzetta dello Sport looks at some of the other candidates, especially ones who are currently free agents.

Pioli already worked closely with Maldini at Milan, where they won the Scudetto, but was fired by Fiorentina just a few weeks into last season.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – APRIL 27: Coach of Atalanta Raffaele Palladino looks on during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Atalanta BC at Stadio Sant’Elia on April 27, 2026 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

Palladino is more in the Pirlo mould, a young coach focused on possession football, following in the footsteps of his mentor Gian Piero Gasperini.

He is 42 years old and had some impressive campaigns with Monza, Fiorentina and Atalanta, who he dragged out of danger into a sixth-place finish in Serie A when taking over in November 2025.

Palladino was unable to agree on a strategy going forward, so left Atalanta by mutual consent this summer.