Malagò meets Maldini and Leonardo, are resignations on the way?

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The rejection of Pirlo’s candidacy as head coach could bring the new Azzurri project to an end

What happens now? The sudden turn in the race to appoint Italy's new head coach, and the affair involving Andrea Pirlo, could trigger a full-blown earthquake inside the Italian Football Federation. According to several sources, newly appointed technical director Paolo Maldini and his right-hand man Leonardo are ready to resign if FIGC president Malagò turns to a coach who does not fit their vision.

Decisive meeting

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Malagò, Maldini and Leonardo are due to hold a hugely important, decisive meeting in Rome today, where it will become clear whether there is still room to continue a collaboration that began just under three weeks ago. The newly elected Federation president will try to convince the two men he put in charge of the project to rebuild the Italy national team, which also includes a restructuring of the youth sides, that the appointment of Andrea Pirlo was indeed incompatible, for reasons of appropriateness, with the ethical principles the role of national-team manager entails. By tomorrow, when a Federal Council meeting will be held, Malagò also needs to present the name of the designated head coach to the various bodies of Italian football.

Chiellini is ready

Malagò will try to verbally reaffirm his absolute faith in the project put forward by Maldini and Leonardo, a project that goes beyond the choice of the head coach tasked with leading the new Azzurri era and securing qualification for the 2030 World Cup. If, however, the technical director and his adviser offer a clear show of intransigence over Pirlo's profile, the FIGC president would have to accept the resignations and has already identified Giorgio Chiellini as the ideal figure to take on the role of technical director. With one of Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte as head coach.