After Guardiola said no, Italy picked a World Cup winner | OneFootball

After missing out on their third consecutive World Cup, the Italy national team is undergoing an institutional transformation focused on the long term in order to return to the top tier of international football. The departure of Gabriele Gravina and the appointment of Giovanni Malagò as president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) was one of the moves following the defeat to Bosnia in the playoff, and reports from Italy revealed who will replace Gennaro Gattuso.

Journalist Elisabetta Esposito said in a bylined column in La Gazzetta dello Sport that Andrea Pirlo “agreed to become the new head coach” of the Azzurra, after Pep Guardiola turned down the offer to take the job. Technical secretary Paolo Maldini and advisor Leonardo see him as the “ideal” person for the role, and the 2006 World Cup winner will be taking on his fifth coaching job, his first at national-team level.

It is worth remembering that Pirlo has been the current coach of United FC in the United Arab Emirates since mid-2025, and the only time he spent more than a year at one club was on the Sampdoria bench, where he managed 45 matches. Before that, he coached Turkey’s Karagümrük for 34 games, and his first experience came at Juventus in Italy between August 2020 and June 2021.

The search by Maldini and Leonardo focused on finding someone similar in football philosophy or someone who thought like them, with harmony and shared ideas. “Andrea Pirlo was identified from the start as the perfect candidate for the renewal project they see as necessary for Italian football. Asking highly experienced and strong-willed coaches such as (Antonio) Conte or (Roberto) Mancini to think like them is practically impossible. That is why they opted for a younger profile, open to modern football and receptive to advice and guidance,” Esposito wrote.

Confidence in this decision is absolute, despite the fact that the coach was accused some time ago of lacking the character needed to manage a dressing room. However, the two executives are willing to back him against any criticism. The former Juventus, Inter, and Milan midfielder will have a contract through the 2030 World Cup, but Paolo Maldini is committed to a long-term vision, as the aim will be to focus on developing 12- and 13-year-olds and complete this process in 8 to 10 years.

The former 47-year-old footballer could earn a salary not exceeding 1.5 million euros, with the possibility of increases based on sporting results: “Pirlo will be Italy’s new coach and the announcement is imminent.” The cited source said the manager is “enthusiastic” about this new project, and at the FIGC they are preparing for a very busy weekend with the intention of finalizing the agreement between the parties.

During his playing career, Pirlo wore the Nazionale shirt 116 times, with 13 goals and 26 assists. He played almost every minute of the 2006 World Cup, in which Italy beat France on penalties in Berlin; he lost the Euro 2012 final 0-4 to Spain and was beaten by the same opponent in the semifinals of the 2013 Confederations Cup. He was part of the squads for the last World Cups in South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, both ending in first-round elimination. After that, he did not take part in the campaigns that left Italy out of Russia 2018, Qatar 2022, and this year’s edition.

At first, Pep Guardiola was the leading name to take over the position left vacant by Gattuso. Sky Sport even reported that Paolo Maldini and Leonardo had held a lengthy meeting to discuss his arrival to the Italian national team. However, the Spaniard, who recently left his job at Manchester City, turned down the offer.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.