Italy’s next head coach is no longer a distant project. Giovanni Malagò says the decision is coming in “a few more days’ patience”, and that alone tells you the FIGC is finally moving from talk to action. The real twist is that this is not being framed as a straight shootout between Andrea Pirlo and Roberto Mancini. Malagò has made it clear there are other names in the mix, and in a market where every big appointment becomes a political and financial test, that matters.
It also matters because Italy cannot pretend this is only about the romance of a famous badge on the touchline. Malagò has already admitted that any major splurge would only be possible in the 2027 financial year, which is a blunt way of saying the dream shortlist may not match the accounts. That is why the Guardiola conversation keeps hovering in the background. The same goes for Antonio Conte. Neither man was officially named as a candidate in the quote, but the wider message is obvious: the biggest names are one thing, the budget is another.
Money, method and the uncomfortable reality
Malagò tried to pull the debate away from celebrity and back towards structure. He pointed to Scaloni and De la Fuente as examples of coaches who reached a final without the grandest pedigree, then stressed that the real job is to fix organisation and methodology so Italians play more and are valued. That is the sort of line administrators love to use when they want to sound visionary, but here it has a sharper edge. It is also a warning that Italy cannot buy its way out of a deeper problem.
His comparison with Paolo Maldini and Leonardo was revealing too. Malagò said it took him two weeks to bring them on board, while insisting there is no clash and that everyone involved must be “100% aligned”. That suggests a process built on agreement rather than noise, which is sensible enough. But it also underlines how much control and coordination this appointment needs. Italy are not just hiring a coach. They are choosing a direction.
There is a second layer to all of this, and it is one that football keeps pretending is separate when it plainly is not. Andrea Pirlo has just been announced as the new head coach of Dubai-based United FC of the UAE first division, which removes one obvious name from the most obvious conversations. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola has made clear in recent reporting that he does not feel like returning to football after leaving Manchester City, a major break from the grind that only sharpens the contrast with Italy’s search for certainty. When the sport’s biggest names are either unavailable or unconvinced, the sensible answer becomes more important than the glamorous one.
That is where Malagò’s “beyond Mancini and Pirlo there could be other names” line lands properly. It is not a tease. It is an admission that Italy’s next step may need to be more practical than poetic. And if the budget really is “a thousand miles from any wishes of the big shot”, then the FIGC has already narrowed the field more than any shortlist ever could.
The final verdict is simple: Italy are close to appointing a coach, but they are even closer to finding out what kind of federation they really want to be. If the choice is about status alone, the numbers will get in the way. If it is about method, coherence and realism, then the next few days should tell us a great deal.
