Thomas Tuchel SIGNS contract to become new England manager as unveiling date emerges

Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel will become the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate as England manager after agreeing a deal with Football Association chiefs

Thomas Tuchel has agreed to become the new England manager after reaching a deal with the Football Association – and the German will be unveiled later this week.

Tuchel quickly emerged as the frontrunner on Tuesday, having left his job as Bayern Munich manager  at the end of last season. After receiving assurances the German was interested in the job, FA chiefs quickly entered into negotiations with him.

A deal has now been agreed, as first reported by The Times with Tuchel becoming just the third permanent foreign manager of the England team in the country’s history, following in the footsteps of the late Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. The FA have been searching for a successor since the end of Euro 2024 when Gareth Southgate resigned from his post.

Lee Carsley has been in interim charge of the team ever since, guiding the Three Lions through the Nations League. But following both last week’s defeat to Greece and Sunday’s win over Finland, Carsley made it clear he would not be taking on the job permanently.

Tuchel became the top contender after Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, and technical director John McDermott approached him last month.

He has been out of work since being sacked by Bayern and has effectively been on gardening leave ever since, though the Bundesliga side are not expected to demand compensation.

The FA are understood to be planning a press conference this week, likely to announce Tuchel’s arrival as manager. Tuchel has previously had spells in charge of Mainz, Borussia Dortmund,PSG and Chelsea

He led the Blues to four cup finals, winning the champions league,before being sacked in September 2022. He also led Dortmund the DFB-Pokal in 2017, PSG to two Ligue 1 titles and Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2023.

That CV has underlined his credentials to work with top players and the FA hope that his arrival will help England go from being beaten finalists in the last two Euros to winners in major tournaments.

The FA had also made contact with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola in the summer but the Catalan has not given them an answer and there is a strong belief he will stay at the Etihad for another year.

That saw the pursuit of Tuchel accelerated, with the German flying over to London for talks. Carsley is likely to go back to being in charge of the under-21s.

The World Cup draw takes place in Geneva on Friday, December 13, with the new manager then expected to oversee the qualifying campaign. It is not yet known whether Tuchel will oversee England’s final Nations League games next month.

The German already has the backing of England skipper Harry Kane, who worked under him at Bayern. Kane scored 44 goals in 45 games under Tuchel, with the striker now hailing him as a ‘fantastic coach’.

“To be honest, I haven’t heard anything specific about it yet. That’s why I can’t really comment on it until it’s officially announced,” Kane told Sky Germany when asked about Tuchel’s talks with the FA.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens. I obviously know Thomas very well from the last year. He’s a fantastic coach and a fantastic person. I’m sure the FA will contact me when they know more about this issue.”

Carsley had been seen as a leading contender for the job, but his candidacy suffered a blow after England lost to Greece last week. Following the win over Finland, Carsley admitted he was not anticipating to take the job for the long-term.

“I’ve not really thought much about it. I keep saying the same thing. My remit was six games and I’m happy with that. This is a privileged position. I’m really enjoying it but I didn’t enjoy the last two days,” he told ITV

“I’m not used to losing in an England team, I don’t take losing well. People are always going to try and put their chips on one side. I’m in the middle. My bosses have made it clear what they need from me. This job deserves a world class coach who has won trophies and I am still on the path to that.”

Source:Mirror