Guardiola surprises the Italian federation with an impossible request

The possibility of Pep Guardiola taking over as Italy coach has resurfaced after Italian Football Federation president Giovanni Malago admitted he had been in contact with the Spanish coach, although he gave no assurances that talks would come to fruition.

In his statements, Malago even went so far as to say that he was in… In Guardiola’s case, budget-level “exceptions” can be made to pay his wages.

In turn, the newspaper reported.La Gazzetta dello SportToday, Thursday, the Catalan coach demanded 20 million euros a year for the training of the Italian national team, which is twice what the Italian Football Federation is willing to pay.

According to the Italian newspaper, the request is aimed at not giving up on Italy, as Guardiola has previously hinted that he would prefer to take a break after 10 years at Manchester City before embarking on another project.

The magazine claims that Guardiola remains the favorite candidate of Italian sporting directors Paolo Maldini and Leonardo, but not at this price.

This is where the search for a new Azzurri coach begins. Apart from Guardiola, the most popular candidate is Andrea Pirlo, followed by Roberto Mancini and then Antonio Conte.

Notably, the Italian national team has failed to qualify for the World Cup in the last three games in 2018, 2022 and 2026, leaving Italian football in a deep crisis that requires a radical solution, so Guardiola has come up with an idea to put the Italians back on the world map.