ESPN source said that Pep's phoncecall with the FIGC lasted "less than a minute". Meanwhile the man invited Maldini and Leonardo out to visit him. And Malagò says all lines of communication are open with him. Where do these people come up with this shit, goodness me.
ESPN is full of sh*t. You don't invite an icon like Maldini to your home and have it be a short meeting. I think you are on to something. Pep loves Italia. If his wife and daughter love fashion, then Italia is much better than Spain. I'm sure we can find something for his daughter to do in Italia
The obvious to me is he wouldn't be with them every day like his clubs. I know the format has changed with the UNL (longer international breaks but less of them) but how much can you possibly pass off in international football? Spain has 2 or 3 advantages at least. Dunno anymore. Italy has Drawn with Spain in tournaments 3 times over 90 Mnutes since 2008 . Lost twice over 90 Minutes, beat Spain once over 90 Minutes. Id rather them spend effort on increasing number of players in the league and improving the D.
Since 2006, Spain have won 26 out of 52 World Cup, Euro, Champions League and Europa League titles. 🇪🇸👑 pic.twitter.com/fZVCB8wnTA— Football Buzz (@indust69377) July 22, 2026 Only time Spain has not won a Euro since 2008 is when Italy has knocked them out. We also nearly did it in 2008 as well losing on penalties.
This is what I don't understand when it comes to Serie A owners. Spain's success comes from building a rich thriving youth system. Most of their players in La Liga are domestic. It's a great recipe for success. But, like a drug addict, these Serie A owners ignore this. They must not like winning European trophies I guess. They are so short-sighted. Have some patience and build the damn youth sectors.
Yes it why I dislike the "premier league has all the money" takes. English football has wasted its financial advantage so far and Serie A has spent more than LaLiga in this time. But they play the most domestic players of anyone and have a clear identity that is anti mercenary short term results. We have everything to do much better than we do.
Here is a nice summary of how Spain forces their clubs to invest in youth and we do nothing. In sports business, "ring-fencing" means legally separating a specific pool of money so that it can only be spent on designated long-term assets (like youth academies, training grounds, and stadium development) and cannot be diverted into short-term operational expenses like transfer fees or player wages. Here is how the regulatory and legal reality of ring-fenced spending plays out in Spain vs. Italy. Spain: Strict Frameworks & Mandatory Allocations Spain has made ring-fencing structural and mandatory across LaLiga through two primary mechanisms: 1. LaLiga Impulso (The CVC Deal) In 2021, LaLiga signed a landmark deal with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, injecting around €2 billion into Spanish football. However, LaLiga strictly ring-fenced these funds for every participating club: 70% must be spent on long-term infrastructure, digitalization, and youth development. 15% can be used to service existing debt. Only 15% can be spent on first-team squad building (transfers and player salaries). The Result: If a Spanish club received €50 million from the deal, €35 million of it was legally locked into building training grounds, updating medical technology, or expanding academy dormitories. They simply could not use it to sign a superstar striker. 2. LaLiga’s Economic Control System LaLiga calculates a strict Squad Cost Limit (salary cap) for every team based on revenue minus operational debt. Because youth academy operational costs are categorized differently from first-team squad expenditure, clubs are financially incentivized to allocate revenue toward youth facilities, as spending on academy infrastructure does not count against their first-team registration cap. Italy: Bureaucratic Roadblocks & Flexible Spending Italy’s lack of ring-fenced infrastructure investment is less about a lack of capital and more about regulatory hurdles and flexible financial governance. 1. Rejected Private Equity & Capital Flexibility Serie A attempted a similar private equity deal with CVC and other funds around the same time Spain did, but top Italian clubs blocked the agreement over control of broadcasting rights. As a result: Italian clubs received no centralized, ring-fenced cash injection for capital projects. Funds generated by clubs remain entirely at the discretion of owners and boards, who frequently prioritize immediate squad fixes over decade-long facility builds. 2. The Municipal Infrastructure Trap In Spain, clubs generally own or hold long-term operational leases over their training complexes (Ciudades Deportivas). In Italy, around 90%+ of stadiums and many training grounds are owned by local municipalities. The Spanish Way: A club buys land, secures a streamlined permit under sports development laws, and builds an academy complex. The Italian Way: A club tries to ring-fence money for a new facility, but local city councils, heritage preservation boards, and local politics delay permits for years or demand public utility offsets. The earmarked money often sits idle in legal disputes or gets absorbed back into operational costs. 3. Historical Tax Incentives Redirected Capital Until recently, Italy used the Decreto Crescita (Growth Decree)—a tax law that allowed Italian clubs to pay significantly reduced income tax on foreign players. This incentivized clubs to spend their liquid capital on signing overseas talent rather than locking capital away into long-term youth academy infrastructure.
So, yes, Pep would be great. But we have to FORCE STRUCTURAL change onto the clubs like Spain has, or we will not make big improvements.
We can hope that he would be to Italy what Cruyff was to Spain. Italy is a copycat league. We were retuning in a good direction in 2018-2021 and then Conte came back and found success and everyone copied him again. Big figures like Maldini and Pep could sway the culture. There are already positive trends with Cesc Abate Aquillani DeRossi Grosso and then Gasp/Sarri/Spalletti to an extent. But yes without all the points on infrastructure/transfers domestic players being incentivized no tactics in the world could change our big picture trajectory.
Italians respond and organize themselves historically around big figures. I hate to say it, but look at our history. Caesar, Cosimo de Medici, Cavour, Garibaldi, Mussolini, etc. We just squabble and disagree with each other all the time, and it takes a BIG PERSONALITY to come in and force us to progress (sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad). The point I'm making is that Serie A owners will only respond to a big stick. They have to be forced to change through personality or through legal/structural changes.
Pep has never had below extraordinary players. Politano isn't messi. Locatelli is a pos compare to busquets. Baldanzi or Iniesta? Stop it.
But, you just flagged the one criticism of Guardiola...it's the hole in his resume. He can win with supreme talent. But can he win with just good talent? The question will always be there for him.
Well, whatever Maldini presented to Pep certainly has him thinking. No matter what happens, just shows the power of having a respected, strong figure ahead atop of the FIGC negotiating things gives you the time of the day. Long overdue. Pep would have looked at the phone and laughed if it was the likes of Gravina or any of the old dinosaur crew of the past phoning him.
I'm starting to think Pep would be better served being an Advisor and ramming it down Malagò's and Abodi's throat that Italy needs the league to to make structural changes. You all know them as it's been listed ad nauseum.
🗣️ Luciano Buonfiglio, président du CONI: "La seule chose que je demande à Giovanni, c’est de choisir un sélectionneur technique italien. Guardiola ? La grande majorité de nos entraîneurs en Serie A sont italiens, et c’est avec eux que le sélectionneur devra se mesurer." pic.twitter.com/V9go97R6s7— Nazionale News 🇮🇹 (@NazionaleNews) July 22, 2026 Here's some more of the retarded mentality on display which is a large part of why we find the Azzurri where it is today. Crying about the NT coach's nationality, yet the league crumbles apart with foreigners. Thank goodness we have Italian managers, though.
70% foreign league, foreigners own the teams, but this RETARD draws line at the most successful coach of his era, who publicly calls Italy his "second home". This shit just writes itself.
Lo que más le gusta a Amorim de Comotto es su elegancia para jugar, tiene una técnica y toque de balón privilegiados y eso le hace pensar que tiene un techo altísimo. pic.twitter.com/fy4oKkYHaX— Milan TMN (@MilanTMN) July 22, 2026 What Amorim likes most about Comotto is his elegance in playing; he has a privileged technique and ball touch, and that makes him think that he has a very high ceiling.
I have seen it in coaching at amateur level, sometimes you look at a player and just know....that's a footballer. Comotto is a footballer.