Pep Guardiola meets Italy chiefs amid plot to convince him to take job | OneFootball

National team chiefs have travelled to meet Pep Guardiola after Wayne Rooney suggested he was potentially the only man who should replace Thomas Tuchel in the England role.

Guardiola left Manchester City after a 10-year spell following the conclusion of the 2025/26 season. The elite boss won 20 trophies during his time at the Etihad.

He had already conquered Germany, with Bayern Munich, and Spain, with Barcelona, and could be about to move to Italy.

However, if he does so, it won’t be as a club manager, but rather with the national team.

Sky Sports reports members of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have flown to Barcelona to meet Guardiola in order to convince him to take the national team job.

The new technical director, Paolo Maldini, travelled with an advisor to meet with Guardiola, in an attempt to lure him in.

It’s said they spoke over three days, with the Italian chiefs explaining their full project for the national team.

There are other candidates for the Italy job – two Italians, in Andrea Pirlo and Roberto Mancini.

Rooney touted Guardiola for England job

The reveal of the meeting with Italy comes just days after England legend Rooney suggested Guardiola was perhaps the only man who should take over from Thomas Tuchel as Three Lions boss.

He said: “I don’t see anyone else out there at the minute, unless you go and get Pep Guardiola. If Pep Guardiola is available, then maybe you go and get him.

“I think he is a top-class manager and what the top managers do, they learn from the mistakes and they improve and get better.

“But the big thing for me is he’s not experienced at World Cups. We had the exact same with [Fabio] Capello. The World Cup is different and you need to feel that environment and now he’s felt it.”

There is a question over whether Guardiola is available for anybody, though. He has clearly welcomed a meeting with Italy chiefs, but had previously suggested he was going to take a break when leaving City.

He said when leaving the club: “No plans for [coaching] for a while. Otherwise I would be here. I need to step back. I will not [coach] for a while,” he said during his final Manchester City press conference.

“I feel I will not have the energy every day, with expectations to fight for the title. I know myself, I have that energy, but I feel like I will not have it [in the future].

“There are things that I have not done that I want to do. I still have my father alive. I want to spend more time with him. My kids… And a lot of things as a human being I can do. I’m fortunate I can decide, that’s why I took this decision.”