Paolo Maldini appointed as Italy’s first-ever national team technical director

Paolo Maldini is officially the new technical director of the Italian national football team, a role built specifically around giving him full oversight of Club Italia’s technical and youth infrastructure.

Maldini becomes the first person to hold this title in the history of the Azzurri.

How we got here

The appointment lands under the leadership of Giovanni Malagò, who took over as FIGC president and moved quickly to restructure the federation from the top down. Reports circulating in late June 2026 described the deal as nearly complete, with Maldini characterized as “closing in” on acceptance after an initial period of reluctance.

The restructuring plan reportedly pairs Maldini with Antonio Conte as head coach, reflecting the backing of Serie A representatives.

After retiring from AC Milan in 2009 following more than 900 appearances for the club, Maldini returned to Milan in a technical capacity, serving as the club’s technical director before a widely reported and contentious exit in 2023. His work at Milan was credited with reshaping the squad that won the Serie A title in the 2021-22 season, the club’s first league championship in eleven years.

What the role actually means

Maldini’s remit covers the full technical and youth pipeline under Club Italia’s operations. It is the kind of long-game role that does not produce results in six months, which is precisely why it requires someone with the institutional credibility to weather short-term criticism.

The FIGC restructuring also reflects a broader acknowledgment that Italy’s international performance has suffered from structural problems. The Azzurri failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup entirely, a result that effectively forced a reckoning with how the national setup operated.

What this means for the business of Italian football

Maldini’s name carries global recognition that most technical directors simply do not have. Sponsors and commercial partners evaluating the Italy national team brand are now looking at a setup headlined by two figures, Maldini and potentially Conte, whose reputations extend well beyond Italian football.

The risk is that federation politics in Italy have a way of complicating even the most promising appointments. Maldini’s Milan tenure ended amid reported friction with club ownership, and whether the structure Malagò has built around him gives him enough operational independence to execute the vision remains the central question to watch.

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