The Italian Football Federation want Antonio Conte to return to manage the national side just two years after he stepped down.
Conte resigned as Italy head coach after the 2016 European Championships to move to England and become Chelsea manager.
The 48-year-old led Chelsea to the Premier League title during his first season in charge but things have been much more difficult this time around.
Chelsea are on course to finish outside the top four following Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United and Conte is widely expected to leave his post at the end of the season.
A return to Italy has been mooted throughout Conte’s tenure at Chelsea and Italy want him to lead their resurgence on the international scene.
Gian Piero Ventura was sacked as Italy head coach in November after the Azzurri failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and Under-21 head coach Luigi Di Biagio has since been placed in interim charge.
However, Alessandro Costacurta, who has been tasked with the challenge of finding Ventura’s replacement, says Conte is his top choice.
“I’ve not decided yet, but I think that the person who could do the best job would be Conte,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport. “I’ll definitely speak to him in a few months’ time.
“Conte has already shown that he knows how to be Italy coach, as we saw at the European Championships, whereas others haven’t.
“That does not mean I wouldn’t be fine about having Mancini, Ancelotti- who, however, appears to have pulled himself out of the running - or even Ranieri, who had a difficult experience with Greece, but emerged from that strengthened and then went to Leicester.
“I’m looking for a coach, not just somebody who picks players, so I won’t ignore the coaches in Serie A either. “[Atalanta’s Gian Piere] Gaspierini and [Sampdoria’s Marco] Giampaolo are great and would do well.”
Conte exceeded expectations at Euro 2016 after leading one of the worst Italy squads in major tournament history all the way to the quarter finals, where they were eliminated by Germany on penalties.
