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LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 27: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, acknowledges the fans after the team’s victory during the Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on April 27, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
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.
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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
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.
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?
