Next England manager: Pundit raises ‘reason’ for FA to be ‘hopeful’ of Pep Guardiola appointment

It’s been suggested that the FA have a ‘reason’ to be ‘hopeful’ as they push for Man City boss Pep Guardiola to replace ex-England manager Gareth Southgate.

The FA are searching for a new England manager after Southgate announced his exit after his side was beaten by Spain in the Euro 2024 final earlier this month.

Lee Carsley, Eddie Howe and Graham Potter are the English managers linked with the role, but the FA are reportedly considering an ambitious swoop for Guardiola , who recently entered the final year of his England contract.

According to reports, Guardiola is the FA’s ‘only priority’ to replace Southgate and the Man City boss has already received an ‘offer that he ‘can’t refuse’.

And according to former England international Jermaine Jenas, the FA ‘have reason to be hopeful’ of landing Guardiola as he is “not going to manage Spain” and will have four jobs to choose from.

“Pep’s the number one candidate in my mind because he’s Catalan. He’s not going to manage Spain, I wouldn’t have thought,” Jenas said in an interview with The Mirror.

“Pep will manage at international level one day. And it’s just whether it’s going to be Brazil, Portugal, England, Germany. He’s going to do it at some point.”

READ: Five reasons why replacing Gareth Southgate as England manager is a brilliant job

Jenas would also be in favour of former Chelsea and Brighton boss Potter being appointed.

“He’s [Potter] very innovative in terms of his coaching. Thinks outside the box,” Jenas added.

“Got very little experience at international level. Little to none, actually. But he can put a team on the pitch and make them go and play a style of football that I know England fans will absolutely love.”

He continued: “They’ve got a difficult selection process. And they might buy themselves some time. But I think the best bet is to get someone in there straight away. Get someone in there right now. Get them working. Get them operating and see what they’re about.”

MORE ENGLAND COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Next England manager: Klopp, Guardiola neck and neck while favourites flounder…
👉 Howe leaving Newcastle for England job might be just the crisitunity the Magpies need
👉 Ex-England striker predicts hell for Southgate replacement, who will ‘take flak’ no matter what

One of Guardiola’s young guns at Man City – Rico Lewis – has explained why he thinks Carsley would be a good appointment for England.

“He’s a great coach, especially with his man managing,” Lewis said. “What he says, every time I go with them, is that he wants to play that exciting football. Progressive football, where we score lots of goals while defending really well as a unit.

“In a way it’s similar to City – we want to have the ball and score as many goals as we can. That’ll be a big benefit if he does go up to the seniors. He’s a really good person and knows a lot of the players, the younger ones.

“Similar to Gareth when he took over, he’s going to be somebody that if he goes up to the first team then he’s used to that environment already. I think that will massively benefit him in terms of knowing the players.”