Real Madrid legend Ancelotti rivals Barcelona great Guardiola for Italy job

Former Man City and Barca boss Pep Guardiola is not the clear candidate for Italian job, as Carlo Ancelotti approached.The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has talked to former Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola and Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti about taking over the crisis-hit national team.It hopes to announce the new Italy coach within the week, with the Azzurri still reeling after failing for a third straight time to qualify for the World Cup.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4WAFCON 2026: All to know about Africa’s biggest women’s football tournamentlist 2 of 4‘Whole game at risk’: Norway to complain to FIFA over Balogun sagalist 3 of 4English FA charges Southampton coach Tonda Eckert over ‘spygate’ scandallist 4 of 4Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa retires after 22-year careerend of listFormer Italy and AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini was named as the federation’s new technical director at the start of the month and was present at a meeting with the Serie A clubs on Thursday, along with new FIGC president Giovanni Malago and special adviser Leonardo.“Honestly, we can’t give news about what’s happening. You’ve identified one of our targets,” Maldini said when asked about Guardiola in a news conference after the meeting.“We can’t hide that we also talked with Carlo Ancelotti before talking with Pep. Honestly, it seemed right to start with the best in the world, to see their general availability.”Guardiola left Man City at the end of last season, bringing to a close a trophy-laden, 10-year spell in which he established City as a force in Europe and changed the face of English football.The 55-year-old Guardiola has won 35 major titles across his coaching career, including at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.Maldini and Leonardo spent three days in Barcelona recently to speak with Guardiola about taking the Italy job.“The best thing would be to announce the new coach this week, but even more to wait for the person we really want,” Maldini said. “So there’s urgency, but not so much inside us.”