Pep Guardiola came surprisingly close to becoming Italy's head coach, with Paolo Maldini revealing that the former Manchester City boss was so intrigued by the project that he had already started drawing up formations and studying Italy's youth teams.Maldini, who briefly served as the Italian Football Federation's technical director, has lifted the lid on his recent conversations with Guardiola in an interview with Corriere della Sera, revealing just how seriously the Spaniard considered taking charge of the Azzurri.Italy roll out the red carpet for Pep with special contract planMaldini and his ex-Milan teammate Leonardo travelled to Barcelona to meet Guardiola after the end of the previous season, spending an entire day discussing the project."He was very tempted. He came very close to accepting. He even started writing formations down on pieces of paper," Maldini revealed.The discussions went far beyond an initial conversation. According to Maldini, they examined Italy's squads from the Under-17 level upwards as Guardiola considered how he could shape the national team. Yet the deal ultimately collapsed – and Maldini insists money had absolutely nothing to do with it.Maldini gone after 16 days!Reports in Italy had suggested Guardiola wanted a salary of €20 million per year, but Maldini strongly rejected that claim."Absolutely not. Money was never an issue," he said. "Pep told us clearly: Give me one euro less than what the previous coach took and I'm fine."##NAJAVA_MECA_9884006##The real obstacle, according to Maldini, was Guardiola's exhaustion after a decade of managing in the Premier League."Because of exhaustion," Maldini said when asked why the deal fell through. "Guardiola is coming off the back of 10 gruelling years in the Premier League. He's had back surgery, he wants to rest."Guardiola ultimately decided against jumping straight into another demanding job, leaving Italy to pursue an alternative before eventually turning to Andrea Pirlo.
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