So it turns out Pep Guardiola was not the first name on Italy's shopping list after all. The Italian Football Federation has confirmed that they held discussions with Carlo Ancelotti before eventually turning their attention to the Manchester City manager. Which, when you think about it, makes complete sense and also raises a few eyebrows at the same time.
Ancelotti is Italian, he has won basically everything there is to win in club football, and he carries that calm, wise energy of a man who has seen it all and is never particularly flustered by any of it. Going to him first was not a bad call at all. The problem, of course, is that he is currently managing Real Madrid, one of the biggest clubs on the planet, and convincing him to swap the Bernabeu for international football was always going to be a tough sell. Apparently the conversations did not go the distance, and Italy moved on.
That is when Guardiola entered the picture, and suddenly the whole thing became the biggest story in football for about a fortnight. Pep leaving City, Pep going international, Pep reinventing the Azzurri. It has a certain dramatic quality to it that gets people talking, and understandably so.
But here is the honest take. Italy going to Ancelotti first actually shows a bit of sensible thinking from the federation. He is their own, he knows Serie A inside out, and there would have been no adjustment period culturally. The fact that it did not work out does not make it a wrong decision to try.
Guardiola, if he does take the job, brings a different kind of excitement and a global profile that Italy would not mind having going into a World Cup cycle. Whether international management suits his obsessive, hands-on style is a genuine question though. He is used to working with players every single day, and international football simply does not give you that.
Either way, Italy are clearly thinking big, and good for them. Let me know your thoughts.