Giovanni Malagò: A New Era for Italian Football

Giovanni Malagò did not wait long to leave his mark.

Elected as the new FIGC President with almost 69% of the vote, the long-time sporting powerbroker now steps into the most scrutinised role in Italian football with a mandate that could hardly be clearer: rebuild the Azzurri, restore belief, and sketch out a future that looks very different from the recent past.

This is not a ceremonial presidency. It is a repair job.

Malagò’s first big calls

Malagò inherits a national team in need of direction and identity. His early agenda is already defined: choose a new head coach and appoint a technical director capable of shaping the next era of Italian football.

Those are not background roles. They are the twin pillars of the project he has promised to launch.

According to reports in Gazzetta and Corriere della Sera, Malagò has already moved onto one of the most delicate – and potentially inspired – decisions on his desk. Paolo Maldini, the iconic former Italy and Milan captain and respected club executive, has been contacted about the possibility of becoming the Azzurri’s technical director.

The name alone changes the temperature of the conversation around the national side.

Maldini on the horizon

Maldini’s presence has always carried a certain weight. On the pitch he embodied elegance and authority; off it, during his time in Milan’s hierarchy, he showed he could also operate in the boardroom, influencing recruitment and long-term planning.

Now, with Italy searching for a new compass, he is being linked with a role that would put him at the heart of the national team’s sporting strategy.

For Malagò, turning to Maldini would send a powerful signal: that this rebuild is not just about patching up results, but about restoring a footballing culture, a way of working, a standard.

The discussions are at the stage of contact, not conclusion, but the direction is clear. The FIGC President wants a figure who commands instant respect in the dressing room, in the federation corridors and on the international stage. Few names fit that description as neatly as Maldini.

A new Italy in the making

Malagò’s mission stretches well beyond one appointment. Rebuilding confidence around the Azzurri means choosing a head coach who can work in tandem with a technical director, align the youth pathway with the senior side and give Italy a recognisable identity again.

The stakes are obvious. Every decision from here will shape not just the next qualifying campaign, but the image of the national team for years.

One thing is already certain: with Malagò at the helm and Maldini in the frame, Italy’s reset will not be quiet, and it will not be small.