The Sports Guru
Pep Guardiola is reportedly being courted by Italy's football federation, and the obvious question in England is whether the FA might try to beat them to it. This piece looks at why that question has already been settled once before, and what it would actually take for it to be asked again.
Italy wants Pep Guardiola. England already asked him first, and the timeline of what happened next is more revealing than the fresh reports out of Rome. Sky in Italy say the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has held talks with the former Manchester City manager about becoming national team head coach, with technical director Paolo Maldini and his advisor Leonardo reportedly travelling to Barcelona and speaking with Guardiola over three days. It is a genuinely startling proposition for a man who left the Etihad Stadium in May after a decade of near-total success. It also arrives, awkwardly for England, after the Football Association's own approach to Guardiola came and went.
England already had its answer
Before Thomas Tuchel was appointed in January 2025, the FA reportedly approached Guardiola about the England job. Reports at the time suggested a verbal agreement was in place that saw Guardiola stay at Manchester City rather than take over the national team. Whatever conversation took place, the outcome was clear enough: Guardiola committed to City, and the FA turned to Tuchel instead. That sequence matters now, because any suggestion that England could simply "go and get" Guardiola if Italy misses out ignores that England effectively tried that route already, and Guardiola chose otherwise.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney raised the idea again after the Three Lions' 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina, telling The Wayne Rooney Show that no other manager currently available matched Tuchel, "unless you go and get Pep Guardiola" if he becomes available. It is an understandable instinct from a pundit assessing options in the moment. It is also a scenario the FA has already run, with a different result.
Why Tuchel isn't an open question
Tuchel, 52, signed a two-year contract extension in February, having been appointed only the previous year, and the BBC reports he retains the FA's backing. England finished third at the World Cup, their highest men's finish since winning the tournament in 1966, though Tuchel has faced criticism for the defensive substitutions in the semi-final loss to Argentina, in which England surrendered a 1-0 lead. Rooney's view, in the same interview, was that there is no manager currently available who matches Tuchel bar Guardiola himself. That is a compliment to Tuchel as much as it is speculation about a successor, and it sits oddly alongside the idea that the FA might move him on.
What Italy is actually offering
The FIGC's interest looks structurally different to anything England could realistically propose. Gennaro Gattuso left the head coach role in April after Italy lost to Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties in the European play-off, missing a third consecutive World Cup. Italy have won four World Cups and two European Championships but sit 15th in the world rankings, and Roberto Mancini and Andrea Pirlo are also reportedly in contention for the vacancy. Guardiola, a former Spain international, would become only the second non-Italian to take charge of the Azzurri, and the first since the 1960s, if he accepted.
He has a genuine connection to Italian football that England cannot match: Guardiola is a fluent Italian speaker who played two seasons in Serie A between 2001 and 2003, across two spells at Brescia and one at Roma. Italy beat England in the 2021 European Championship final, and if Guardiola takes the job, his first fixture could be a Nations League match against Belgium at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on 25 September - the same stadium where he once played for Roma. Italy have also been drawn with Turkey and World Cup semi-finalists France in the Nations League, with six matches between September and November, and Guardiola's principal task would be qualifying Italy for Euro 2028, co-hosted by the UK and Ireland, with qualifiers taking place in 2027.
The scale of what either country would be signing up for
Guardiola's decade at Manchester City produced 20 trophies: the Premier League six times, the FA Cup three times, the League Cup five times and the Community Shield three times, plus the Champions League in 2023 followed by the Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup. It followed three years at Bayern Munich, where he won the Bundesliga in every season along with two German Cups and one apiece of the Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup, and a spell at Barcelona that yielded three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, five domestic cups and two apiece of the Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup. Add the league titles alone across those three clubs - three at Barcelona, three at Bayern, six at Manchester City - and the total comes to 12, exactly the figure BBC Sport attaches to his career across Spain, Germany and England.
Why he might actually want out of club football, but not necessarily in
Guardiola's own words on leaving City suggest exhaustion rather than retirement. "I am so tired. Seriously, I am so tired," he said in his farewell after a 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa in the final game of the 2025-26 season. He described City as producing "the luggage of memories" beyond even Barcelona or Bayern Munich, but was unambiguous about the decision itself: "It is the right time. I will not miss it for a while, that's for sure." He had said he needed "rest" and "to step back" from club management, adding that he would not have the energy required for matches every three days while fighting for titles. An international post, without that daily grind, is a different proposition entirely - and arguably a more logical next step than an immediate return to a club dugout, if he returns to football at all.
The actual question worth asking
None of this means Guardiola will take the Italy job, or that he would take England's if it were offered again. But the FA's position is not "would we come calling" - it is that they already did, got an answer, built a contract around Tuchel's continuation, and now have a manager under contract with public backing who just delivered England's best World Cup finish in sixty years. Italy's need is more urgent: a federation without a head coach, missing three straight World Cups, negotiating from a position where almost any experienced name looks like an upgrade. England's hypothetical is a pundit's daydream. Italy's talks are a live vacancy being filled.
If Guardiola does take charge of Italy, his opening assignment against Belgium in September would double as a small piece of symmetry - back at the stadium where he played, twenty-plus years removed from wearing a Roma shirt in the Champions League against Real Madrid. Whether that appeals more than a slower rebuild, or another club role entirely, remains genuinely open. What is not open, at least for now, is any realistic path back to Wembley.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, reportedly, before Thomas Tuchel's appointment in January 2025. Reports at the time suggested a verbal agreement was reached that saw Guardiola remain at Manchester City instead.
Sky in Italy have named former Italy internationals Roberto Mancini and Andrea Pirlo as candidates alongside Guardiola.
Gennaro Gattuso left the role in April after Italy lost to Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties in the European play-off, missing a third successive World Cup.
He has faced criticism after England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina, but he signed a two-year contract extension in February and reportedly retains the FA's backing.
Securing qualification for Euro 2028, co-hosted by the UK and Ireland, with qualifiers taking place in 2027. Italy's next fixture is a Nations League match against Belgium on 25 September.
Research: Our wider editorial research consults online reporting from BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Guardian and other reputable sources. Story inspiration: BBC Sport's original report.
