Next England manager: Man City boss Guardiola ‘receives offer he can’t refuse’; Pep is FA’s ‘only priority’

Man City boss Pep Guardiola is the Football Association’s ‘only priority’ to succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager, according to reports.

Southgate stood down on Tuesday after his England team came up just short in the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain, with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe and former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter among the bookmakers’ favourites to take on the job.

However, the FA insists the process is open to anyone who meets the set of criteria it published on Friday. The governing body has set August 2 as the closing date for applications.

The text of the role profile stated: “Our succession planning process has already identified a number of candidates; in addition to this we are committed to open recruitment processes in the football industry.”

The FA said the role required someone to “lead and develop the England senior men’s team to win a major tournament and be consistently ranked as one of the top teams in the world”.

The right person would also provide “inspiring leadership” to the FA’s technical team and develop and maintain strong relationships with clubs who employ English-qualified players.

The successful candidate would need to hold a UEFA Pro Licence, possess “significant experience” of English football and have “a strong track record delivering results in the Premier League and/or leading international competitions”.

They will be an “exceptional leader”, the profile said, “highly resilient” and “comfortable in a very high-profile role with intense public scrutiny”.

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The successful candidate will have a track record of creating a “high-performing, positive team culture” and “strong personal values and integrity”, along with an understanding and willingness to embrace the role the England team have in inspiring the nation.

The profile includes an email address for interested applicants to contact.

“Should you meet all the criteria you will receive a response,” the profile stated.

The profile concludes by stating the FA promotes equality, diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from everyone who meets the criteria.

However, reports in Spain now claim that Man City boss Guardiola is the FA’s ‘only priority’ to replace Southgate with the Catalan ‘receiving an offer he can’t refuse’.

The report adds that Guardiola is ‘very close to leaving the Citizens bench after receiving a great offer’ from England with the Man City boss seen as ‘the ideal replacement, because he already knows many of the players and knows how he wants to play’.

England ‘has already sent the offer and now it only remains to wait for the coach’s response’ but it seems difficult to imagine Guardiola would join until next summer at the very earliest.