Pep Guardiola in talks to make managerial return after opening door to England job

Pep Guardiola is understood to be keen on managing England in the future despite changing his mind over taking the job back in 2024 - but he is now being targeted by another nation

Italy have held talks with Pep Guardiola in a bid to persuade the former Manchester City boss to become their next manager, it has been claimed.

The Italians are in desperate need of reform after failing to qualify for three consecutive World Cup finals, with Gennaro Gattuso agreeing to leave his post as head coach after Italy's disappointing defeat in the qualifying play-offs against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Their search for a new manager has seemingly taken them to the door of Guardiola, who has previously opened the door to managing a national team.

Guardiola, 55, left Manchester City at the end of the 2025-26 campaign after a decade at the helm and has played down talk that he could resume his managerial career sooner rather than later.

However, The Times report that Paolo Maldini, acting in his new role as technical director of the Italian football federation, held talks over three days with Guardiola in Barcelona at the weekend with his adviser, Leonardo.

Maldini and Leonardo are said to have a good relationship with Guardiola, who would be regarded as a major coup for Italy if he can be enticed into succeed Gattuso.

Guardiola's salary is likely to be an obstacle in any bid to make him Italy's next manager, though, with the Catalan coach's demands likely to be far more significant than any previous incumbents.

Interest in Guardiola comes just days after it emerged that he had a verbal agreement with the Football Association to become England's next manager following Gareth Southgate's decision to stand down from his post after Euro 2024.

However, Guardiola subsequently had a rather dramatic change of heart and ended up staying at Manchester City for two more years.

Guardiola is said to have expressed a desire to manage England in the future to those close to him. The position is currently held by Thomas Tuchel, who the FA turned to after Guardiola's U-turn, but the German has been heavily scrutinised over the manner of England's crushing World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Though there is bitterness over England's decision to drop deep after taking the lead against Argentina, Tuchel did guide the Three Lions to their best finish at a World Cup finals since their triumph back in 1966 as a result of beating France 6-4 in the bronze final.

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