Andrea Pirlo: The Future of Italy's National Team

Andrea Pirlo is edging towards the biggest job of his life. From the technical area of a UAE club to the bench of the Azzurri: the leap is enormous, but Italy’s federation seems ready to make it with him.

According to “La Gazzetta dello Sport”, Paolo Maldini and Leonardo have now moved decisively in Pirlo’s direction after Pep Guardiola turned down the chance to coach Italy. Once Guardiola stepped away, the debate didn’t last long. The federation wants a younger coach, one rooted in modern football, willing to listen, collaborate and grow inside a broader project. That profile pushed Pirlo ahead of Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini.

Maldini, Leonardo and a fragile dressing room

Pirlo’s biggest critics always land on the same point: personality. They question whether he has the steel to manage a notoriously complicated Italy dressing room, a space that has broken far more experienced coaches.

The response from the federation has been clear. Maldini and Leonardo will take charge of that terrain. Giovanni Malagò, president of the Italian Olympic Committee, has effectively handed them a major share of the power over the national team’s future. They are prepared to enforce discipline and protect Pirlo from internal resistance, imposing their authority on anyone who tries to undermine the new coach.

In other words, Pirlo would not walk into Coverciano alone. He would arrive backed by two of the most respected figures in Italian football, tasked with shielding him and reshaping the environment around him.

A revolutionary project, not just a bench

Talks with Pirlo have reached advanced stages, the reports say. The 2006 World Cup winner is described as eager – even desperate – to dive into what he sees as a revolutionary project the moment he is chosen.

This is not just about the next qualifying campaign or the next tournament. The idea, driven strongly by Maldini, is to rebuild Italian football from the ground up, starting with the age groups between 12 and 13. That means redefining how talent is identified, trained and developed across the country.

The timeline is brutal in its honesty: eight to ten years. No shortcuts, no illusion that one charismatic coach can fix a broken system overnight. The proposed contract for Pirlo would run until the 2030 World Cup, a horizon that underlines how long the federation expects this reconstruction to take.

A decisive weekend, a quiet power play

Inside the Italian Football Federation, everyone is bracing for a heavy weekend of work. The federal council meets on Tuesday. Officially, it does not appoint the coach – the statute limits its role to consultation – but the timing is no coincidence. That gathering could provide the perfect stage for an announcement that has been building in the shadows.

If Pirlo is confirmed, it will mark a symbolic break with the past. Italy would be betting on a coach with limited international résumé but a strong alignment with the new technical vision: modern football, collective decision-making, long-term planning.

Money, expectations and the weight of the shirt

On the financial side, the numbers tell their own story. Estimates suggest Mancini would have accepted around two million euros per year. Pirlo’s salary is expected to stay below 1.5 million euros per season. It is a saving, but also a signal: the real investment lies not in the coach’s pay packet, but in the structure around him and the youth overhaul the federation wants to launch.

The risk is obvious. The Italy job remains one of the most pressurised roles in world football, and Pirlo would step into it with every decision dissected, every selection turned into a national debate. His calm demeanour, so elegant on the pitch, will now be tested in front of microphones, in dressing rooms, and in the brutal rhythm of international football.

Yet this is precisely the gamble the federation seems ready to take: a younger coach, a modern idea, a long runway to reshape the identity of the Azzurri.

If the weekend brings the expected green light, the question will no longer be whether Andrea Pirlo is ready for Italy. It will be whether Italian football is ready to let him change it.