Carlo Ancelotti has revealed he tried to sign Pep Guardiola when he was managing in Italy early in his career.
The Everton boss took charge of Serie A side Parma in 1996 and made Guardiola, playing for Barcelona at the time, one of his transfer targets.
Ancelotti, however, says he could not convince the midfielder to leave the Nou Camp.
Asked if he had spoken to the Manchester City boss since taking the reigns at Everton earlier this month, the Italian said: “We met last year in Italy for a conference. We were talking about football. I have a good relationship with him and always had that.
"I remember when I was manager of Parma, at the beginning I tried to sign him for Parma but he decided to stay in Barcelona.
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"I spoke with him and told him we needed him for our play, for our team, but in the end he decided to stay.”
Everton head to the Etihad tomorrow (5:30pm) for the sternest test of Ancelotti's fleeting tenure as the Blues' new manager.
But after back-to-back wins over Burnley and Newcastle - that have taken Everton into the top half of the table - Ancelotti insists they will play with confidence against the champions.
And the 60-year-old goes head-to-head with Guardiola having won their last tussle as Ancelotti's Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich 5-0 over two legs in the Champions League semi-finals in 2014.
“Pep teams are fantastic in possession," Ancelotti said.
"You have to know this. Do not be worried about the possession. You have to be worried, to be focused on defending well, and to try when you have the ball to use your skills.
"It is impossible for us to defend for 90 minutes. We have to defend well and then when we have the ball.
"We will have problems but we need to show confidence and i am sure we can do a fantastic game."
