Brescia fans may feel a sense of deja vu with a forward named Luca and a midfielder called Andrea helping them rise from the ashes.Once upon a time, a certain Luca Toni and Andrea Pirlo were helping establish the now-defunct Brescia Calcio as a force in Italian football.Brescia fans launched protests last summer before the club was dissolvedGettyOver two decades later, the likes of Luca Vido and Andrea Cisco are attempting to help the only club from the region back into Serie B.It was at that level that their more famous namesake Lombardy team played their final game of professional football on May 13, 2025.On the one-year anniversary of that 2-1 win over Reggiana, one of their most iconic former players, Pep Guardiola, will be attempting to keep his Premier League title dreams alive as Manchester City host Crystal Palace, live and exclusive on talkSPORT.The Spaniard is hoping for a miracle for his side to overhaul Arsenal in what could be his final season in charge of a European top-flight side.As of yet, nobody knows what’s next for Guardiola, with a return to Italy touted as a potential head coach of the managerless Azzurri.Such a move would stun Italian fans as much as when he joined Brescia to play alongside Roberto Baggio after leaving Barcelona.Brescia signed Baggio and GuardiolaWatford sporting director Gian Luca Nani was the man who signed them both for Le Rondinelle during his stint at the then Serie A side.“It was a miracle,” the Italian recalled during an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com during Udinese‘s International Media Days event.“It was a special moment. Roberto Baggio – he already played with all the top clubs. Brescia was a place where we had a coach [Carlo Mazzone] who really loved Roberto Baggio.Guardiola continued his post-Barca career alongside Ballon d’Or winner BaggioGettyGuardiola has claimed that Baggio is the most talented player he has ever played withGetty“At that time, he was a bit upset because all the coaches where he was didn’t treat him super well,” Nani continued to talkSPORT.com.“So he felt this kind of love. Brescia was a good team at the moment, and he said, ‘Yes, I’m happy to come.’ So it was a special moment.“Even Pep Guardiola was the same. And then when you have Baggio in your team, it’s easy to convince the other player. “From there came a lot of talent like Luca Toni, Pirlo, [Stephen] Appiah, and Marek Hamsik. “So you had the team of Roberto Baggio and Pep Guardiola that was quite incredible. So it was a great moment.”Guardiola captained Brescia after spending seventeen years at Barcelona as a playerGettyThe Man City boss has even been linked with a return to Italy to take charge of their national teamGettyDiscovering Andrea PirloGuardiola arrived at Brescia as a replacement for Pirlo following the end of his second spell at the club before he joined AC Milan.The World Cup winner came through the ranks at ‘The Little Swallows’ and became their youngest player to appear in Serie A at age 16.Nani added to talkSPORT: “He was a kid in the academy. When he was starting to become a player, I remember him saying when he was 16 years old, ‘I want to become the number one in the world.’“So you can see the determination, and Andrea is not a person who talks too much.“He’s a person who shows. And that’s also an important part. And of course, for a young player, playing next to Baggio, next to Guardiola, next to Luca Toni, all of them get a lot of advantage. “When you play football next to the top talent, you learn a lot from them, so that’s helped.”Baggio spent four seasons at Brescia at the same time that Pirlo emerged from the club’s youth systemGettyLuca Toni also learned from the Italian icon before finding his feet at Fiorentina and Bayern MunichGettyWhat happened to Brescia?Unfortunately, after finishing eighth in 2001, Brescia were relegated in 2005, a year after Baggio had finally hung up his illustrious boots.The next two decades saw ‘I Biancazzurri’ become a yo-yo club between the first and second divisions in Italy.Former Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino plunged Brescia into further turmoil following his arrival as president in 2017.A four-point deduction issued over unpaid wages confirmed the team’s relegation from Serie B last term, despite finishing in 15th.Yet Brescia Calcio were not granted a license to compete in Serie C for this season and were dissolved after 114 years in July last year.Union Brescia were founded later that month, following the relocation of Feralpisalò, and have taken over the old club’s Rigamonti Stadium and now find themselves in the playoffs.That is not a fate shared by Nani’s current team, Watford, who parted company with coach Ed Still after finishing 16th in the Championship.Gian Luca Nani confirmed a chance meeting at an airport led Watford to sign Edoardo BoveGettyBove chose to restart his career at Watford over other options across EuropeOff the pitch, the Hornets enjoyed a coup in the arrival of Edoardo Bove, with Nani also using his pulling power at Udinese as well.On the most famous star names he has signed, Nani said: “I’m proud of all my players. I’m not the one that I love more than another.“Then of course, when you talk about special players, you talk about Baggio and Guardiola. But there are many, many, many of them.“It’s the same when I talk about Udinese and Watford. It’s a group. It’s like [saying] you have two sons, which one do you like more?“That’s why Baggio and Guardiola are the most famous, they’re unbelievable. But many of them, Marek Hamšík [at Brescia] was 15 years old. A special player, many, many of them.“Now, also, we sign [for] Watford, Edoardo Bove, that is coming from a special situation. Here in Udine, we have [Nicolo] Zaniolo.“That is a player with ability. He could play with a super top club.But also a young player like the last two. Like [Juan David] Arizala, [Branimir] Mlačić, that would be top talent.“In Watford, we have [Nestory] Irankunda, [Othmane] Maamma. So many, many, many players. It’s difficult for me to say.Nani credited the work of owner Giampaolo Pozzo (C) in building the philosophy behind signing young starsGetty“I’m proud of my staff and people. First of all, because all together, that is a job that has to be done. Never will be one person who does this job.“But it’s always a staff of people. Always say that a good staff of people with the same mentality, same winning mentality, is much more than any great individual.“So that’s why, that is the way that we work in Udine. That is the way that we work also in the other club, in the group of Watford.“Trying all together to go in the same direction, following the same philosophy. Philosophy that was built by Mr Pozzo 40 years ago. And that is the way that we keep doing, and we hope we will do it.”