England ‘willing to wait’ for Man City boss as they draw up incredible plan to ‘coax’ Guardiola

The Football Association are prepared to wait a year to land Man City boss Pep Guardiola as their replacement for Gareth Southgate as England manager, according to reports.

Southgate announced on Tuesday that he has stepped down from his role as England manager after their 2-1 loss in the Euro 2024 final against Spain on Sunday .

It was their second European Championship final defeat in a row with Southgate criticised throughout the tournament for his team selection and tactics by fans and pundits.

But Southgate can leave with his head held high after leading the Three Lions to two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final over their last four major tournaments.

The FA had been keen for Southgate to stay on beyond his existing contract, which ran until December, but now must identify someone to build on Southgate’s impressive tenure as England boss.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said the governing body wanted to make an appointment “as soon as possible” but said there was “an interim solution in place if needed”, with England needing someone to be in place on a temporary basis at least for the Nations League fixtures against the Republic of Ireland and Finland scheduled for September 7 and 10.

And The Independent claim that the FA are even ‘willing to wait’ a year to appoint Man City boss Guardiola as manager with the Spaniard having 12 months left on his contract at the Etihad Stadium.

It is understood that the FA ‘would consider the idea of appointing an interim in order to try and coax’ Guardiola as England manager if he chooses to leave Man City in the summer of 2025.

The Independent added:

‘He has naturally been high on any ideal list, but the feeling was previously that it would be near impossible to get him out of City for such a job.

‘There is now a feeling within the English champions that Guardiola might leave at the end of the 2024-25 season. Complicating his future is the ongoing Premier League investigation into City over the hundred-plus charges for alleged breaches of rules on financial regulation. The club stress their innocence.

‘Guardiola has previously expressed interest in going into international management, although primarily on the romance of coaching Brazil. In such a scenario that he might be interested, the FA would seek to play up the idea of ending England’s long wait for an international trophy. Guardiola does not have particular interest in managing Spain due to identifying as a Catalan.

‘One problem is that the 53-year-old may not even make a decision until the end of the 2024-25 season, as has been the case in recent campaigns. That may not prove completely off-putting, however. While the FA have stressed their intention to make a quick decision, that can involve an interim.’

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Jamie Carragher has claimed that the new England boss should be English after the failed reigns of Fabio Capello and Sven Goran Eriksson – but former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan doesn’t think that has to be the case.

Jordan told the Daily Mail : “In an ideal world the next England manager should be English. But we don’t live in an ideal world and the FA have to be targeting the best in class, not just someone based on their passport.

“If Gareth Southgate’s successor is appointed solely out of an obligation to appease those who argue the national team manager must be from these shores, then the FA will have made a big mistake.

“Because let’s be honest, 58 years without winning a major trophy is pretty embarrassing for an elite football nation. That’s not English arrogance or entitlement, it’s just a fact.

“There is no reason why Spain and France can succeed so regularly in international football and we can’t.

“We have elite players who have won big trophies both at home and abroad. They know what winning looks like and yet, when it comes to international football, they come up short.

“Southgate has to take some responsibility for that. For the last eight years we have had a manager who was very capable of creating team spirit, managing the media and changing the narrative around England. But if we’re brutally honest, it’s also been a terrible waste give the talent at his disposal.

“One of the biggest crimes in life is that of wasted potential and I feel England have missed yet another opportunity this summer.

“The England job should be an honour and a privilege, not a chore — but we need a manager who can set the team up to fulfil their undoubted potential, play on the front foot and go at teams. If that man is English then hallelujah — but If the best candidate is from abroad then so be it.

“I guarantee no one would care where the manager was from if England ended up winning the World Cup or Euros.”