Gianluigi Buffon says he would have chosen Antonio Conte to be the new Italy head coach ahead of Roberto Mancini.

Gennaro Gattuso stepped down as Italy's head coach earlier this year after they failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup.

Italy then underwent a chaotic search for a new boss, holding talks with both Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, before being rejected and turning to Andrea Pirlo.

However, with the former midfielder on the brink of being announced, the deal fell through due to controversy surrounding his partnership with a Russian betting company, and Italy eventually turned to Mancini.

The 61-year-old previously led Italy to the Euro 2020 title and won 38 of his 58 matches (D12 L8), while leading them to a 37-match unbeaten streak, a record that was only recently surpassed by world champions Spain.

But Buffon, who served as the delegation chief of the Italian national team before stepping down in the wake of their failure to qualify for the World Cup, believes there were better candidates for the job.

"[Guardiola's] name alone would have brought a boost, and we needed that," Buffon told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"But having him there wouldn't have brought a guarantee of results. He has been the greatest for 30 years, but he has just coached at clubs. Being with the national team is something different.

"I would propose that the main goal is to qualify for the World Cup in four years' time. On that basis, I would have chosen Conte, then [Silvio] Baldini, and then maybe some of the others.

"But you have to have courage in your choices and the skill to communicate them to everyone, even to the press.

"Too often, I hear people say 'that's the right person' without having any real qualification. Okay, but these are instinctive choices, not ones that were studied. The project has to come first, then a functional individual."

Mancini also failed to lead Italy back to the World Cup, falling at the play-off hurdle ahead of the 2022 edition.

And though Buffon has no doubts over Mancini's qualities as a head coach, he questioned whether he is the right person to lead Italy back to FIFA's premier competition.

"At the end of the day, Mancini is technically a good choice because he has shown that he has a functional way of playing for this sort of project," he added.

"If I were PSG, Bayern [Munich], Real [Madrid], Juve, a big team, I would consider him."

Asked if there was any truth behind rumours that Buffon had opposed Mancini's return as head coach as Luciano Spalletti's successor last year, he added: "I had an important role, but I didn't have the final say.

"At the time, Gattuso was the best available candidate on the market for that role. There wasn't a lot of time, and the play-offs were practically certain.

"We needed to motivate a team that was a little dejected and to bring them back their enthusiasm and sense of pride."