Thomas Tuchel: FA holds talks with ex-Chelsea boss over England role

Thomas Tuchel, the ex-manager of Chelsea, has had discussions with the Football Association regarding the possibility of taking on the role of the next England manager.

Since Gareth Southgate stepped down after the Three Lions' loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, England has not had a permanent manager.

Lee Carsley has been appointed as the interim manager, with plans for him to possibly continue in the role during the fall, as the FA explores appropriate candidates.

The BBC has received information from two separate sources indicating that preliminary discussions have occurred with Germany’s Tuchel.

According to one source, talks are progressing rapidly, and even though no announcement is anticipated on Tuesday, things could change swiftly, with Tuchel emerging as the top candidate for the position.

In the summer, there was an attempt to gauge whether Manchester City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, would be interested in taking on the England coaching position.

Both the FA and Manchester City declined to provide any comments when contacted by BBC Sport.

Tuchel departed from Bayern Munich in May, even though he had a year left on his contract. This decision came after the club's failure to secure the Bundesliga title, marking their first miss since the 2011-12 season.

He has also held managerial positions at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund, and Paris Saint-Germain in the past.

Tuchel, who is 51 years old, served as Chelsea's manager from January 2021 to September 2022. During his tenure, he led the team to victory in the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup before being dismissed from his position.

In June, Tuchel announced that he would not be a candidate for the Manchester United job. Reports suggested that he had a meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the club's co-owners, in France.

If he is chosen, Tuchel would be the third permanent manager of the England men's team who is not British, following Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.

Southgate has been at the helm of the England team for eight years and is the only coach, apart from Sir Alf Ramsey, who led the men's team to a major tournament final. He achieved this during Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.

He led the England team in four significant tournaments, achieving a reach to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018 and making it to the quarter-finals in 2022.

Since taking on the role, Carsley has led the team to three wins and one loss in the Nations League.

Similar to Southgate, Carsley has also served as the manager of the England Under-21 team, leading them to success in the 2023 European U21 Championship.

Following his initial success in the first two matches as temporary England manager, Carsley faced a loss against Greece at Wembley on Thursday. However, the team bounced back with a 3-1 victory over Finland in Helsinki on Sunday.

After the defeat against Greece, Carsley expressed his hope of returning to the under-21 team.

Following the victory against Finland, the 50-year-old made it clear that it was "absolutely" incorrect to claim he had eliminated himself from consideration for the permanent position. He emphasized that England deserves a "top-tier coach" and acknowledged that he is still working towards that level.

Some of the names that have been mentioned as potential candidates for the permanent position include Newcastle's manager Eddie Howe and ex-Brighton and Chelsea coach Graham Potter.