Realistic dream or wishful thinking: Guardiola on Italy's bench?

Enough is enough!

The Italy national team has never been accustomed to consecutive failures, and after missing three World Cups in a row, the situation around the Azzurri is as alarming as it gets. Something has to change, and it has to be done as soon as possible.

Manager Gennaro Gattuso has left, and the identity of his successor is still a burning question.

Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini have recently emerged as the favourites to take on a massive challenge, with Serie A clubs - who don't have the right to vote for the new manager, but whose opinion is respected - even offering financial help to the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to hire Conte.

However, the new national team technical director, Paolo Maldini, apparently has different plans and much higher ambitions. The Italian football and AC Milan legend is keen on a modern strategist, someone who is neither Conte nor Mancini.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Maldini wants to see Pep Guardiola in the Azzurri's dugout!

The same source reports that his main "weapon" in the negotiations with the Spaniard could be his close associate Leonardo, who managed to convince Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona and join Paris Saint-Germain in one of football's biggest transfer sagas five years ago.

Pep's financial demands - he earned €25 million per season at Manchester City - are definitely a problem, but given the respect the 55-year-old strategist has always shown for Maldini and the challenge Italy could represent, he could reduce this vast sum.

The lack of depth and quality in the Azzurri's squad is also a potential obstacle, as it's unclear whether Guardiola could even implement his well-known system with that side.

Either way, this idea is still a long shot, and only time will tell if Pep will be ready to follow in Carlo Ancelotti's footsteps and try to revive a struggling giant.