'Pay me one euro less': Maldini reveals Guardiola was ready to take Italy job for less money

 The Italian legend confessed the incredible proposal from the Spanish coach.

Paolo Maldini has offered in an interview with "Corriere della Sera" new details about his departure from the Italian national team and about the ambitious project that he tried to launch during his brief spell in charge of sporting management. Among his main objectives was finding a coach capable of leading a profound transformation of Italian football, and the chosen name was none other than Pep Guardiola.

According to Maldini, the Manchester City manager came very close to accepting the offer. The contact between both parties became far more in-depth than a simple initial approach. "With Guardiola, we studied the squads, from the U-17s upward," assured the former Milan player, who also reveals that the coach "even started writing down the lineups".

"He was very close to coaching Italy, he even started writing the lineups" Paolo Maldini

The conversations even came to address economic issues. Maldini maintains that Guardiola showed an enormous willingness to take the job: "Guardiola told us: give me one euro less than what the last national team coach was earning and I'm in."  Therefore, money was not the reason that ultimately frustrated the operation. Maldini insists that Guardiola "did not turn it down because of money." His decision was related to the accumulated fatigue after years working in England and to back surgery: "He was tired after ten exhausting years in the Premier League."

Maldini's plan went far beyond choosing a new national team coach. His intention was to drive a genuine reconstruction of Italian football, but the differences with the federation president, Malagò, ultimately made the project unworkable. Considering that he could no longer carry out his duties with the agreed independence, Maldini decided to leave his position.

"We submitted our resignation because the necessary conditions of trust no longer existed", he explained. The former footballer also defends the position he maintained during the conflict and states: "If defending my role and assuming my responsibilities means being intransigent, then I am intransigent". 

The controversy with Pirlo

Once Guardiola was out of the equation, Maldini had perfectly defined who should take charge of Italy: Andrea Pirlo. For him, the former midfielder had the necessary qualities to become the new national team coach and was the ideal manager, despite the doubts raised by his experience on the bench.

Maldini questions precisely that argument and points to the last two coaches who won a World Cup: "What résumé did the last two world champion coaches, Scaloni and De la Fuente, have?". From a footballing point of view, moreover, he believes that Pirlo was more than prepared to take on the challenge and describes him as "extremely well prepared."

"Pirlo was used as a pretext; there was no legal obstacle preventing him from being the national team coach" Paolo Maldini

The controversy surrounding Pirlo's relationship with a betting company also did not convince Maldini. The former defender believes that episode was used to block his candidacy: "It was a pretext". According to his version, "there was no legal impediment" and Pirlo was even willing to end his ties with the company to clear up any doubts: "He was willing to break off his relationship with the Russian company".

Finally, Malagò ruled out the option of Pirlo, a decision that also left out other names that were on the table, such as De Rossi and Grosso. Instead, Maldini insists that Thiago Motta never became part of his plans: "He was never among our options".