ISTANBUL / Ahmed Hassan / Anadolu Agency

Italian Football Federation President Giovanni Malagò confirmed that he has held talks with Spanish coach Pep Guardiola to take over as the new head coach of the Italian national team, but he is not confident that Guardiola will accept the job.

In an interview with the website 'Cronache di Spogliatoio' on Wednesday, Malagò revealed that he has indeed held talks with the former Manchester City coach, and that 'exceptions' could be made regarding his salary.

He explained that these financial exceptions mean the federation is ready to offer a higher-than-usual salary for the national team coach, due to the great status of the Spanish coach, and to bypass the usual financial limits or ceilings for this position.

The Italian federation president said: 'Exceptions [financial] have been made, exceptions that may relate, for example, to the name that is dominating these hours: Pep Guardiola.'

He added: 'There are exceptions for obvious reasons that I am not here to explain, but it is not certain that this will succeed.'

Guardiola left Manchester City this summer after 10 successful years in England, during which he won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups, and the UEFA Champions League.

The Italian national team has been without a head coach since Gennaro Gattuso resigned last April, after the four-time world champions, the last being in 2006 in Germany, failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row.

On Monday, Sky Italia reported for the first time that there had been contact between the Italian Football Federation and the 55-year-old to take over as head coach of the national team.

Also being considered for the position are former Saudi Arabia head coach Roberto Mancini, who led Italy to glory in the 2020 UEFA European Championship five years ago, and former midfielder Andrea Pirlo.

Responding to a question about whether Guardiola, Mancini, and Pirlo are the only candidates, Malagò replied: 'Certainly not, we are thinking of certain specifications, and these names certainly fall into that category.'

Guardiola has never coached in Italy, but he speaks fluent Italian and spent two seasons in the Italian league from 2001 to 2003, with Brescia and Roma.

If appointed as Italy coach, it would be a quick return to the football world after his tenure at Manchester City ended in May, when he said: 'I am very tired. Seriously.'

He added: 'The memories I have of Barcelona and Bayern Munich are incomparable, but the wealth of memories I carry from here over 10 years surpasses anything else.'