Maldini to become new Italy technical director; joined by Leonardo as advisor | OneFootball

Paolo Maldini has agreed to become the Italian federation’s new technical director, taking on a role created specifically for him as the FIGC begins the task of rebuilding the national team.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Milan and Italy legend has accepted the proposal of new federation president Giovanni Malagò after a long wait, signing a four-year contract on terms described as favourable to the FIGC.

Maldini will serve as technical director and president of Club Italia, a position without precedent in the federation, with sweeping responsibility that extends beyond appointing the next head coach to overseeing the entire national-team pathway.

In a surprise addition, Leonardo, his former Milan teammate and colleague, joins him in an advisory capacity.

BERGAMO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 16: AC Milan Sporting Strategy & Development Director Paolo Maldini and AC Milan Club Sporting Director Leonardo De Araujo before the Serie A match between Atalanta BC and AC Milan at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on February 16, 2019 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Maldini and Leonardo to lead search for new Italy coach

The pair’s first task is the most pressing: identifying the man to lead the Azzurri into the next cycle. The names favoured by Malagò have been circulating for some time, Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini foremost among them, and it now remains to be seen whether they meet with the approval of the new technical leadership.

The appointment lands at the lowest ebb in the national team’s modern history. Italy have missed three consecutive World Cups, watching this summer’s tournament from home while former internationals queue up to lament the decline.

The project, as framed by the federation, is to relaunch the Azzurri with the next World Cup as the horizon, and in turning to Maldini, a man who lifted five European Cups and embodied Italian defending for a quarter of a century, the FIGC has reached for the most respected figure available.

For Maldini, it marks a return to the front line three years on from his acrimonious exit as Milan’s technical director, this time with the weight of a footballing nation’s expectations on his shoulders.