Thomas Tuchel to sound out Gareth Southgate before World Cup qualifiers

New England head coach Thomas Tuchel intends to sound out “gentleman” Gareth Southgate and immediate predecessor Lee Carsley ahead of kicking off the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.

The German has signed an 18-month contract with the Football Association which starts on January 1, and Tuchel is well aware that his mission is to add a second World Cup star to the England jersey.

Friday’s qualification draw pitted his team against Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra, with the group winners securing an automatic place in the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Tuchel is a hugely-respected club coach but is new to the international arena and confirmed he planned to set aside time to speak to Southgate, who bowed out in the summer after taking England to a second-successive Euros final.

“He’s a gentleman,” Tuchel told Sky Sports News.

“We met before when I was at Chelsea and it was a pleasure to talk to him, and why shouldn’t I (meet him again)?”

He will also hold talks at St George’s Park next month with Carsley, who took interim charge for England’s Nations League campaign in the autumn.

“We will work from January at St George’s and I hope it will become very regular that we will meet and very normal that we meet,” he added.

“Of course we will exchange (ideas) because I’m interested in his point of view about the (squad selection for) the games, about the potential in the group and how he felt about the group and the experiences.

“He is the under-21 coach, so he will be very, very close to me and we have enough time from January.”

England are set to start their qualification campaign in March and have won every match they have played to date against their Group K opponents.

However, Tuchel told