Italy have opened serious talks with Spanish coach Pep Guardiola over becoming the national team’s next manager as the country seeks to recover from a third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup.

Sky Sport Italia reported that newly appointed technical director Paolo Maldini and federation adviser Leonardo travelled to Barcelona over the weekend to discuss the position with Guardiola.

There has been no initial indication that the former Manchester City manager has accepted the offer. Guardiola previously suggested that he intended to take a break from football after ending his decade-long spell with the Premier League club.

The 55-year-old left Manchester City after 10 seasons in charge, during which he established himself as one of the most successful coaches in modern football.

Italy’s latest World Cup qualification failure in March triggered sweeping changes across the national setup. Head coach Gennaro Gattuso, team manager Gianluigi Buffon and Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina all left their positions.

Giovanni Malagò, the former president of the Italian Olympic Committee, was subsequently elected to lead the football federation. He appointed AC Milan legend Maldini as technical director as part of a wider effort to rebuild the four-time world champions.

Malagò declined to comment directly on the negotiations with Guardiola but indicated that the federation’s shortlist extended beyond former Italy coach Roberto Mancini and Andrea Pirlo.

Appointing Guardiola would represent a major statement of intent from the new leadership. The Spaniard has won three Champions League titles—two with Barcelona and one with Manchester City—as well as 12 domestic league championships across spells with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.

Italy now remain without a permanent head coach as the federation considers whether Guardiola can be persuaded to postpone his planned break and lead one of international football’s most ambitious rebuilding projects.

The talks were reported by The Times, while Guardiola’s departure after a decade at City was confirmed by Manchester City.