Pep Guardiola has a new, highly challenging job waiting if he leaves Manchester City before his contract expires.
On 24 April 2026, Pep Guardiola, manager of Premier League leader Manchester City, emerged as the favorite to become Italy's new national team coach following Gennaro Gattuso's resignation.
Gennaro Gattuso was removed from his position after Italy lost on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoff round, missing out on the 2026 World Cup for the third consecutive time.
Meanwhile, Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), and legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who headed Italy's delegation, also resigned to take responsibility for this failure.
Recently, the Spanish media outlet Marca reported that the FIGC is encouraging Pep Guardiola to leave Manchester City and take over Italy’s national team, even though Guardiola still has one year left on his contract with the 'Sky Blues.'
Similarly, the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport also reported that Guardiola is willing to consider the offer if the Italian national team makes a proposal.
However, a major obstacle to appointing Guardiola as Italy’s coach is his salary. He currently earns €24.8 million (£21.5 million) annually at Manchester City, whereas Roberto Mancini, Italy’s Euro 2020 winning coach and former City manager, earned only €3 million (£2.6 million) per year after leading Italy to that title.
Nevertheless, Leonardo Bonucci, former Italy national team defender and player for Juventus and AC Milan, now working with the FIGC, emphasized, “I want to start fresh with Guardiola. He is the right person for Italy. I know it won’t be easy, but dreaming costs nothing.”