The Italian football federation made a significant move on Saturday by appointing Paolo Maldini as the technical director and bringing in former Brazil international and 1994 World Cup champion Leonardo as an advisor.
Giovanni Malagò, who previously led the organizing committee for the Milan Cortina Olympics and is now the newly elected president of the struggling federation, stated that Maldini’s and Leonardo’s appointments are the initial steps toward hiring a new coach for the Italy national team.
Regarding the new leadership, Malagò remarked, “They represent two halves of the same coin; we have a four-year plan aimed at bringing us to the next World Cup in 2030, along with the European Championship.”
Leonardo, who has previously managed Inter Milan and AC Milan, as well as serving as a director at PSG, was a teammate of Maldini during their time at AC Milan.
Maldini and Leonardo are tasked with finding a successor to Gennaro Gattuso, who departed after the Azzurri’s third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup.
The leading candidates for the coaching position are believed to be former Italy managers Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte.
Mancini led Italy to the UEFA European Championship title in 2021 but could not secure qualification for the subsequent World Cup, leading to his departure to coach the Saudi Arabia national team.
After leaving Saudi Arabia in 2024, he also parted ways with Al Sadd in Qatar.
Conte managed Italy at the 2016 European Championship and recently resigned from his position at Napoli.