Carsley open to foreign England manager amid Guardiola links

Interim England manager Lee Carsley believes the job should go to the best candidate, regardless of nationality, amid reports Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been asked about his interest in the role.

Carsley has distanced himself from leading the Three Lions on a permanent basis in recent days after declaring England deserve a “world class coach who has won trophies” he is yet to lift early in his managerial career

Guardiola is out of contract at the end of the season and would be a dream appointment for the English Football Association (FA) after winning six Premier League titles in his eight seasons at City.

The Times reported on Monday that the FA made an informal approach to Guardiola at the beginning of the season over his availability to succeed Gareth Southgate.

“I haven’t decided yet. And it is not even true that I will be the next England coach. If I had decided I would say it,” Guardiola told Italian TV show Che Tempo Che Fa on Sunday.

Former Bayern Munich and Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel is another of the leading candidates for the job.

England have twice before been managed by foreign coaches in Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.

“No, definitely not. I think it’s important that the best candidate gets the job,” Carsley said on whether the England manager had to be English.

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“We’ve seen in the past that we’ve had different nationalities coach the team. The best candidate should get the job.

“I think we’d be putting ourselves in a corner if we didn’t, and we didn’t open our minds a bit.”

Carsley is still expected to take charge of England’s final Nations League group games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland next month.

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