Maldini: Pep came 'close' to Italy job, had lineups

Paolo Maldini has revealed that Pep Guardiola came very close to accepting the Italy head coach job, with the Manchester City manager even beginning to write down potential lineups during their discussions. Maldini, who was appointed FIGC technical director in July before resigning after just 16 days, travelled to Barcelona to meet Guardiola for an entire day of talks. Maldini also dismissed reports that Guardiola had demanded €20 million ($23.3m) for the role, stating that finances were not the reason a deal was not reached.