Pep Guardiola has held talks about becoming Italy’s next head coach, Italian Football Federation president Giovanni Malago has confirmed.Malago also said “exceptions” could be made in terms of salary for the 55-year-old former Manchester City manager.Guardiola, who previously coached Barcelona and Bayern Munich, left City at the end of last season after winning six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups and the Champions League during a 10-year reign.Gennaro Gattuso resigned as Italy head coach in April after the four-time champions failed to qualify for a third World Cup in a row.Gennaro Gattuso resigned as Italy boss in April (Mike Egerton/PA)According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Malago said: “(Financial) exceptions have been made, exceptions that for example may concern the name that is so overbearing in these hours: Pep Guardiola.“Exceptions for obvious reasons that I am not here to explain, but it is not certain that this thing will go through.”Roberto Mancini, who led Italy to Euro 2020 glory, and former Azzurri midfielder Andrea Pirlo are other candidates for the vacancy.Asked if Guardiola, Mancini and Pirlo were the only names on the shortlist, Malago replied: “Absolutely not. We think about a certain profile and certainly these names fall into that category.”Italy have only ever had one foreign manager and that was 60 years ago, with Argentine Helenio Herrera taking charge of the team alongside Italian Fercuccio Valcareggi between 1966 and 1967.Guardiola said before his City exit that he wasn’t planning on taking a new job “for a while”, citing a lack of “energy” - just as his storied rival Jurgen Klopp said when he departed Liverpool."No plans for [coaching] for a while,” he said during his final press conference for the club. “Otherwise I would be here. I need to step back. I will not [coach] for a while."I feel I will not have the energy every day, with expectations to fight for the title. I know myself, I have that energy, but I feel like I will not have it [in the future]."PA