Guardiola audacious new idea for Italy job after Manchester City exit | OneFootball

An audacious name has been suggested for the Italy job next summer, because Pep Guardiola is expected to leave Manchester City and has a love for Italian football.

Gennaro Gattuso is widely expected to leave the role after failing to secure World Cup qualification, after FIGC President Gabriele Gravina and delegation chief Gigi Buffon both tended their resignations today.

The names mentioned as potential candidates are current Milan boss Max Allegri, plus former Azzurri coaches Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte, who are at Al-Sadd and Napoli respectively.

Guardiola dream for the Nazionale

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the UEFA Champions League final football match between Inter Milan and Manchester City at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, on June 10, 2023. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

An intriguing alternative was put forward by the Gazzetta dello Sport, specifically that of Guardiola, who is likely to walk away from Manchester City at the end of the season.

The Spaniard has been in that job since 2016, before that winning silverware with Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 18: Antonio Conte, Head Coach of Napoli, and Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, embrace prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD1 match between Manchester City and SSC Napoli at City of Manchester Stadium on September 18, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

It would be an interesting challenge for a coach with a very specific style of football that is in many ways the antithesis of Calcio tradition.

However, that doesn’t mean Guardiola is a stranger to Italy, far from it.

He played for two Serie A clubs, Brescia and Roma, still speaks excellent Italian, and regularly returns to these shores as a tourist.

Guardiola is also full of praise for several Italian coaches, such as Gian Piero Gasperini of Roma and Lazio’s Maurizio Sarri.

The last time Italy had a foreign CT was Helenio Herrera, but that was sharing the role with Giulio Valcareggi for only four games in the 1960s.

If Carlo Ancelotti can leave Real Madrid to take on the Brazil job, why not Guardiola in charge of the Azzurri?