Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has seen his odds to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager fall amid speculation linking him with the Three Lions job.
Southgate is preparing to lead England into this summer’s European Championship in Germany in what will be the fourth major tournament he has overseen since replacing Sam Allardyce in September 2016.
England will start the tournament as one of the favourites as Southgate looks to go one better than Euro 2020 in which his side lost to Italy in the final at Wembley.
But this has not stopped speculation about Southgate’s future in the job, with the 53-year-old recently being linked with a return to club football with Manchester United.
Bookmaker William Hill’s latest odds for the next permanent England manager see Newcastle boss Eddie Howe as the 4-1 favourite, but Guardiola has dropped to 5/1. Jurgen Klopp (8/1) and Graham Potter (10/1) are the other leading contenders.
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Guardiola’s contract at Manchester City runs until the end of next season and the 53-year-old has previously discussed his ambitions of managing an international side.
“A national team. I would like to train a national team for a World Cup or a European Championship,” he told ESPN Brazil in February.
“I would like that. I don’t know who would want me! To work for a national team they have to want you, just like a club,” he said.
A report from Spanish outlet Nacional in last year claimed that Guardiola had been offered the chance to take over from Southgate after Euro 2024, adding that the former Spain international ‘feels at home’ in England.
Guardiola’s managerial achievements should mean he has little trouble finding an international team that wants him, when he decides to call time on his spell at City.
He has won 11 league titles during his time with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, plus three Champions Leagues and last season secured a historic treble with the Citizens.
