Unlike Guardiola, the Italian federation announces negotiations with an experienced coach

New Italian FA coach Paolo Maldini and his advisor Leonardo have revealed the backstage of the ongoing moves to select a new Azzurri national team coach, confirming that the federation has already been in contact with a coach other than Pep Guardiola, whose name has been in the news.

The duo’s announcements came at a press conference held after Italian Football Federation president Giovanni Malago’s meeting with the Italian League Club Association, where attendees declined to reveal the identity of the next coach, limiting themselves to talking about the specifics of the team’s technical plan.

According to the website, Maldini said.Football ItalyToday, Thursday, the Federation hopes to resolve the coach’s case within the next few days, but stressed that haste will not come at the expense of the quality of the selection.

He added: “The ideal is to sign a contract with a coach by the end of the week, but it’s better to wait for the person we really want. There is a rush, but it is not a rush that forces us to make a hasty decision.”

For his part, Leonardo explained that the federation is working according to a clear vision to rebuild Italian football, noting that the selection process is not limited to the name of the coach, but includes building an integrated project for the future.

Maldini said that the federation has already started communicating with the world’s most famous coaches, saying: “We cannot deny that we spoke with Carlo Ancelotti before communicating with Pep Guardiola. It was only natural to start with those we consider to be the best in the world to find out their level of access.”

However, the two officials did not give any details on the outcome of those contacts or Guardiola’s stance on accepting the mission, especially since Ancelotti recently renewed his contract with the Brazil national team, making it very difficult for him to leave at this time.

Earlier media reports indicated that Guardiola was set to step down after… He demanded a huge salary of 20 million euros a year, double the amount offered by the Italian side..

Maldini confirmed that his acceptance of the position of technical director of the Italian federation took place after much thought, explaining that the new project was the main reason for his confirmation.

He said: “I felt the greatness of the responsibility, that’s why it took time to be convinced. When the Italian team calls you, it becomes difficult to refuse.”

He added that his long relationship with Leonardo, their compatibility in ideas and vision contributed to the formation of this new project.

For his part, Leonardo stressed that the aim was not limited to appointing a new coach, but rather to reformulate the philosophy of Italian football by combining work between the first team, youth teams and academies, a system which he said lacked a unified strategy in previous years.

He explained that the federation seeks to establish clear technical principles, starting from the academies and continuing to the first team, focusing on developing the players technically and making them play offensively and show initiative, considering that Italian football is lagging behind in this respect compared to many other countries.

Leonardo also emphasized that the new coach must be consistent with this vision, stressing that the main criterion will be not only the name, but how compatible his ideas are with the technical project that the federation is working to implement.

He concluded his speech by noting that the construction of this project takes time, but at the same time he emphasized the need to speed up the preparation of the first team, taking into account the upcoming official duties for Italy.