Gareth Southgate reportedly didn’t tell his England players he would be resigning as manager before announcing the news on Tuesday.
The 53-year-old confirmed he would be walking away from Wembley, having decided to pass the baton on in the wake of Sunday’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
The likes of Eddie Howe, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Lee Carsley are all interested in taking over – as well as Thomas Tuchel, who left Bayern Munich by mutual consent earlier this summer.
Southgate forged a close bond with his England players during his eight years in the dugout.
Gareth Southgate reportedly didn’t tell his England players he would be resigning as manager before announcing the news on Tuesday
PA
But the Daily Mail say the 53-year-old didn’t inform his stars that he’d be resigning from his role.
Instead, Southgate kept them in the dark – with many members of the squad finding out about his exit on Tuesday, along with the rest of the world.
The FA feel their search for a replacement is in a ‘good place’ at the current moment in time, despite no clear favourite emerging.
The report says the governing body have decided they don’t want to pay Southgate’s replacement ‘significantly more’ than the £4.5million salary they paid the 53-year-old during his latter years in charge.
That could represent an issue, especially given the huge salaries given to managers within club football.
Howe earns roughly £6m annually at Newcastle and would need to take a pay cut in order to manage England.
It is thought, however, that the prospect of taking charge of the Three Lions, and the magnitude of such a job, could convince the 46-year-old into accepting a lesser wage.
Howe is reportedly open to discussing the role with the FA providing Newcastle are approached. It is not known if he intends on actively pursuing the post himself – but the Toon would demand ‘significant compensation’ in order to let him go.
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The FA are supposedly wary of entering ‘arduous’ discussions with Newcastle, which could force them into looking elsewhere.
Potter would be a more realistic target, with the 49-year-old still without a job following his sacking from Chelsea in April last year.
Despite his spell at Stamford Bridge failing to work out, Potter is admired by the FA for his work with the likes of Brighton and Swansea in previous years.
England have had two foreign managers in the past, with Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello previously entrusted with the job.
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Gareth Southgate decided to leave his post as England manager following their 2-1 defeat to Spain in the final of Euro 2024
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And if they decide to go down that route again, then Pochettino and Tuchel are both interested in taking over.
Pochettino is on the market after leaving Chelsea earlier this summer, despite steering the Blues to sixth in the Premier League table.
As for Tuchel, the 50-year-old is a free agent after leaving Bayern Munich by mutual consent following a turbulent 18-month stint in charge of the Bundesliga giants.
Former England boss Sam Allardyce, meanwhile, has told GB News that an English manager is a ‘must’ as the FA mull over their options.
Gareth Southgate could be replaced as England manager by Eddie Howe
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“You have got to try and pick English if you can”, he said. “An English manager is a must. But the pool is so, so small. That is the biggest problem.
“With the Premier League being so dominant and being the biggest sporting brand, the pool of English managers who may be on the shortlist for England is very small.
“They might look to appoint from within again, you have got to bear in mind Gareth was appointed from within. Outside of that, there may not be many English managers on the shortlist. So you wonder, will they go foreign?
“For me, that would be an absolute disaster.”