LONDON, 16 Oct. - (ANA) - Thomas Tuchel has been confirmed as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor as England’s new manager and will start his role on 1 January after being handed an 18-month deal.

 

The Football Association’s pursuit of the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich manager was kept a closely guarded secret by all parties involved in negotiations. Tuchel, who has followed Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello to become the third foreigner to take charge of the senior men’s team, signed his deal at the start of last week and word of his appointment did not break until after England had faced Finland and Greece in the Nations League.

 

The deal will take the German into the 2026 World Cup, where he will be expected to lead the men’s team to silverware for the first time since 1966. Tuchel will earn around £5m a year.

 

Lee Carsley, who took over as interim manager after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, took charge of the Finland and Greece games. The FA did not want the situation with Tuchel, who will be assisted by his close ally, Anthony Barry, to distract from England’s preparations for the international break.

 

Carsley caused uncertainty by saying that he would “hopefully” be returning to his job as the Under-21 set-up after England slumped to an embarrassing defeat to Greece at Wembley last Thursday. Confusion was caused by his inconsistent answers over whether he wanted to succeed Southgate. In reality Tuchel, who fits the remit of a world-class coach with a history of winning major trophies, had already taken the job. Carsley will step aside after next month’s Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland

 

The FA had previously made an approach to the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, who is out of contract at the end of the season. Unlike Guardiola, Tuchel is ready and available now. He has been out of work since leaving Bayern at the end of last season. The 51-year-old, who led Chelsea to the Champions League in 2021, departed after a disappointing campaign saw Bayern’s dominance of the Bundesliga fizzle out.

 

Tuchel spoke to Manchester United about replacing Erik ten Hag last summer only for talks to break down. Ten Hag has remained under pressure and there was a chance of United returning to Tuchel. The FA have moved quickly to get their man.

 

Tuchel quickly grew to enjoy working in England after joining Chelsea in January 2021. He brought the best out of several of Chelsea’s young English contingent and was an assured, insightful communicator with the media. He followed his triumph in the Champions League by leading the Stamford Bridge club to the Club World Cup and European Super Cup. But his time at Chelsea turned sour after the club were sold by Roman Abramovich in 2022. Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital sacked Tuchel six games into the 2022-23 season.

 

The former Borussia Dortmund manager has yearned for a return to England, though, and his tactical acumen convinced the FA to go for him over homegrown managers. A plus is that Tuchel developed a strong relationship with Harry Kane after bringing the England captain to Bayern last year.

 

“I am very proud to have been given the honour of leading the England team,” said Tuchel. “I have long felt a personal connection to the game in this country, and it has given me some incredible moments already. To have the chance to represent England is a huge privilege, and the opportunity to work with this special and talented group of players is very exciting.”

 

Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, led the process with the technical director, John McDermott. “We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him,” Bullingham said. “Our recruitment process has been very thorough. Before the Euros we had a contingency plan and outlined exactly the qualities we would be looking for in a coach.

 

“Since Gareth resigned, we have worked through the candidate pool, meeting a number of coaches and evaluating them against that criteria. Thomas was very impressive and stood out with his vast expertise and his drive. Anthony is a top English talent and also has international experience with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.”   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/16 October 2024 - - -