Former Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has rejected the chance to take the Italy head coach job, according to Sky in Italy.
Guardiola informed the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on Thursday night.
His decision was down to to personal reasons that go beyond football.
The FIGC had met with Guardiola to try and convince him to succeed Gennaro Gattuso as national team head coach and were willing to make an exceptional adjustment to their budget to hire him.
FIGC officials Paolo Maldini and his advisor Leonardo met with Guardiola over three days, explaining their project for the national team moving forward.
In their discussions with the former Manchester City manager in Barcelona, Maldini and Leonardo presented an idea that went beyond simply offering him a coaching role.
In the FIGC’s vision, Guardiola would have been the central figure in an ‘Azzurro project’ aiming to rebuild Italian football on solid foundations. Italy did not even qualify for the expanded World Cup this summer.
