Pep Guardiola approached over England job but has four other options

 

Pep Guardiola approached over England job but has four other options

Pep Guardiola has been approached by the Football Association to become the next England manager but is also considering extending his stay at Manchester City.

The 53-year-old, who has won six Premier League titles since moving to England in 2016, sees his current contract with City expire at the end of the season.

The FA is still searching for Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor and are not expected to appoint current interim manager Lee Carsley on a full-time basis.

However, The Telegraph reports that the FA faces strong competition for Guardiola as the City manager has been approached by two other nations.

City are also keen for Guardiola to extend his contract with the club and the report claims that the most-likely scenario is that he will stay in the Premier League for another 12 months.

Guardiola could also opt to take another sabbatical once his contract with City ends next summer.

The Catalan took a break after leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2012 before joining Bayern Munich the following year.

‘Anything is possible’

Appearing on Italian chat show Che Tempo Che Fa on Sunday, Guardiola was asked if this would be his final season at City.

‘That’s not true, in the sense that I have to think about it,’ he said.

Guardiola was also asked if he will become England’s next manager.

‘No, that’s not true,’ Guardiola replied.

‘If I had decided something I would say so. Anything is possible.’

Meanwhile, Carsley was elusive over his desire to take on the England job full time after England’s two Nations League games in November.

Speaking after England’s 3-1 win against Finland in Helsinki on Sunday, Carsley indicated that he is not the ‘world-class coach’ that the national team needs.

Asked if he wants to take on the job beyond November, Carsley told ITV: ‘Yeah, I’ve not really thought that much about it.

‘I know I keep saying the same thing – my remit was to do six games, really happy with that, privileged position that I’m in.

‘I’m really enjoying it, didn’t enjoy it for last two days, it was hard work, I’m not used to losing in an England team, I don’t take losing very well.’

Asked directly about the reports claiming he doesn’t want the job permanently, Carsley replied: ‘I think people are always going to try to put their chips on one side. I’m totally in the middle.

‘My bosses have made it totally clear what they need from me.

‘This job deserves a world-class coach who has won trophies and been there and done it. I’m still on the path to doing that.’

When asked if he felt the England job was ‘too soon’ for him in his post-match press conference, Carsley replied: ‘Definitely not. I think I tried to make it as clear as I could.

‘The point I was trying to make is that it’s one of the top jobs in the world, I’m not part of the process but it deserves a top coach, the players that we’ve got available, we’ve got a real chance of winning so that was the point I was making.’

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