Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 11:41 p.m.
The German Thomas Tuchel will become, barring any surprise, the new coach of England, the current European runners-up, the country’s press reported this Tuesday, on the eve of a federation press conference in which he should be announced.
The Football Association (FA) summoned the media on Wednesday (12:30 GMT) for a press conference for its general director, Mark Bullingham, in which his appointment is expected to take place.
The media was cited after a Times article announcing a deal with Tuchel, 51. “Everything is closed!” announced the German newspaper Bild on its website.
Since the departure of Gareth Southgate after Euro 2024, in which England lost the final to Spain, the national team has been led by Lee Carsley, former U21 coach, on an interim basis.
Carsley himself stated in several interviews in recent days that he was not counting on staying on the bench.
«This job deserves a world-class coach, who has won trophies and I am still on the path to that. My journey is six games and I am happy with that, it is a privileged position,” he added on Sunday after beating Finland 3-1 in Helsinki, giving clues to the profile that the FA was aiming for.
Tuchel ticks all the boxes required by the federation for the position, starting with having coached top-level teams, such as PSG (2018-2020), Chelsea (2020-2022) and Bayern Munich (2023-2024).
The German is highly valued in England, after achieving a treble with Chelsea in 2021 -Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup-, a few months after his dismissal at PSG.
Although Tuchel’s hypothesis was the most solid, the British media had also highlighted the FA’s interest in Pep Guardiola, whose contract with Manchester City ends this season.
The English team has only been coached by two foreign coaches in its entire history, the Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson and the Italian Fabio Capello.