Pep Guardiola came so close to being appointed Italy manager that he was ‘writing down line-ups’ before ultimately deciding not to take the role on.

The former Manchester City boss brought an end to his 10-year tenure at the Etihad a matter of months ago, but was touted to take over an under-performing Italian national team.

That fell through, though, and Italian Football Federation technical director and defensive legend Paolo Maldini resigned after a move to appoint Andrea Pirlo also collapsed due to his commercial links with a Russian betting company.

Maldini has now though opened up on how close Guardiola came to taking over the team, revealing that the Spaniard was seemingly on board for a pretty long time.

‘(Guardiola) is the coach who best embodies technical, attacking football,’ Maldini told Corriere della Sera. ‘He had expressed the idea of wanting to coach a national team to some friends.

‘We went to meet him in Barcelona, we had lunch together, we talked for an entire day.

Pep Guardiola was ‘writing down line-ups’ ahead of potentially becoming Italy manager

Paolo Maldini met the former Manchester City boss in Barcelona to try and convince him to take over the side

‘He was very tempted. He came very close to accepting. He even started writing line-ups down on sheets of paper.’

The move, though, fell through and left Maldini having to look elsewhere for a new Italy boss.

Fellow former City manager Roberto Mancini was instead appointed, replacing Gennaro Gattuso after the Italians failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third successive tournament.

‘Because of exhaustion,’ Maldini said, speaking of why Guardiola ultimately turned down the opportunity. ‘Guardiola is coming off 10 gruelling years in the Premier League. He had back surgery. He wants to rest.

‘But it was a very serious discussion. We studied the squads from the Under-17s upwards.’

This was all despite Guardiola – who spent two seasons in Italy during his playing days with Brescia and Roma and can speak the language – being offered a comprehensive project where he would have significant control over Italian football.

The 55-year-old was understood to be concerned about the commitment required by jumping straight back into management having promised his family that he would live in Barcelona now his time in England has come to an end.