Pep Guardiola has reportedly told Italy no after talks in Barcelona, leaving Paolo Maldini and the FIGC to move quickly to Plan B. The move was not just a stray rumour from a slow news day. Maldini and Leonardo flew to Barcelona last weekend to meet Guardiola, and La Gazzetta dello Sport says the call came late at night after Guardiola had seriously considered the job.

Manchester City are still part of the picture only as the club Guardiola left behind. They finished second in the Premier League with 78 points, so this was never a case of a coach walking away from a sinking ship. The exit was about a different job, in a different country, with a very different level of uncertainty attached to it.

The asterisk pundits raise

The money talk has been loud, but it should not be overstated. Reports claimed Guardiola asked for a €20 million salary to take the Italy job, yet Maldini said the economic aspect was in no way relevant for Pep. That is why the more persuasive read is not simply salary versus no salary, but fit, timing and commitment. Guardiola’s reported line was blunt enough: “Thank you, I'm honoured, but at this moment, I don't feel it.”

Maldini’s own words point in the same direction. “The ideal would be to have the coach by the end of this week, but perhaps even more ideal would be to wait for the person we really want,” he said. That is a fairly clear admission that Italy are not trying to win the race by speed alone.

Italy’s longer rebuild

The size of the job is part of the problem. Maldini and Leonardo said the project could take eight to 10 years to bring Italy back to where it wants to be on the global stage. That is a long horizon for any coach, and it helps explain why the search has started with the biggest names and may now have to move down the list.

Maldini said as much when he added, “There is a certain hurry, but not a hasty one. We cannot deny that we also spoke to Carlo Ancelotti before talking to Pep, and it felt only right to start with those we considered to be the best in the world.” Italy wanted the biggest possible answer. Guardiola’s refusal leaves them looking for a different one, and the next appointment now feels like the real story rather than the Barcelona meeting.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →