Rome, July 24 -- Legendary football manager Pep Guardiola has turned down the chance to take over the Italy men's national team as head coach, reported Sky Sports.

Guardiola, who recently left English football giants Manchester City after a decade-long illustrious stint with the club, including a treble of Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the 2022/23 season, responded to the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on Thursday night, with his decision reportedly due to personal reasons beyond football.

The FIGC had a meeting with Guardiola and tried to convince him to succeed Gennaro Gattuso as national team head coach after a hat-trick of failures to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Italy failed to qualify in 2018, 2022 and...