The Football Association (FA) have made an informal approach to see if Pep Guardiola is interested in becoming England manager with the Manchester City manager remaining the top target for the role.
The Catalan has not yet given any response, as he still has to make up his mind on whether he will actually leave Manchester City in the summer.
The Independent first revealed on the day after Gareth Southgate resigned that one plan the FA had already discussed was to wait for Guardiola, with Lee Carsley even acting as interim. The first steps of that are already well under way, with the FA having initially sounded out the Catalan, amid Carsley’s reluctance to even say he actively wants the job.
The interim boss has been evasive on the subject, and often appeared to contradict himself, but did insist after the 3-1 win away to Finland that he has no role in the process.
He did add he thinks the eventual candidate should be “world class” with a record of winning trophies, and does not need to be English. “It’s important that the best candidate gets the job,” Carsley said.
The FA have long seen that as Guardiola, given his status as the best manager in the world and one of the greatest in history. Although there had initially been doubt over whether they could afford him, the fact the 2026 World Cup is mostly in the United States is expected to be a commercial bonanza.
Many countries have been thinking about managerial appointments in that context, including the hosts, with the USA having recently appointed Mauricio Pochettino.
The current expectation is that will do one more year at City, with the club hierarchy currently hopeful this will be the case.
Yet there is also a belief within the FA that Guardiola might fancy a change of pace after nine years at Manchester City, with the World Cup and the idea of ending England’s 60 years without a trophy appealing to his sense of romance. Even though the 53-year-old has yet to decide on his future, the situation at City may also change the context.
It is naturally felt he is likelier to leave if the club is found guilty in their Premier League hearing, and particularly if they are severely punished.
The FA are also understood to have spoken to Thomas Tuchel, out of work after leaving Bayern Munich in the summer. Graham Potter and Eddie Howe are also under consideration.