Guardiola turns down Italy job after salary gap in talks

Italy’s football federation confirmed talks with Pep Guardiola over the vacant national team job, only for the approach to stall after a sharp salary gap made the deal unaffordable. Federation officials had been prepared to make financial exceptions to land one of the game’s most decorated coaches, but Guardiola’s demand of about €20 million a year, roughly double Italy’s offer, proved too steep.

The failed pursuit lands on a federation already under pressure after Gennaro Gattuso resigned in April 2026. His exit came after Italy failed to qualify for a third successive World Cup, leaving the Azzurri searching for a reset and exposing how far the national team had fallen behind Europe’s elite.

Guardiola’s availability made the opening unusually attractive. He stepped down as Manchester City manager at the end of the 2025-26 season after a 10-year spell in Manchester, England, but Italy still could not close the financial and strategic gap required to hire him. The federation’s willingness to stretch its budget showed how badly it wanted a marquee appointment, yet the talks also made plain the limits of its pull when competing with club football’s top salaries.

Italy had already sounded out Carlo Ancelotti before turning to Guardiola, a sign that the federation was aiming high as it searched for a manager capable of restoring credibility before the next competitive cycle. Instead, the process has underlined the challenge facing the Italian Football Federation: after three straight missed World Cups, the national team no longer commands the leverage it once did in the market for elite coaches.