Pep Guardiola, who is rumored to be a top candidate to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager, says he is “really happy” at Manchester City and only focused on the season ahead,
Southgate resigned as manager of the Three Lions earlier this month after his team lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Eddie Howe, Graham Potter, and Lee Carsley are among the candidates vying for his job, while the Football Association may perhaps search outside.
Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino are in the race, and the FA is also keeping an eye on Guardiola.
The Spaniard is in the last year of his contract with the Premier League winners, but when asked if he would consider accepting the England position, he stated that his main priority is to guide City to a record-breaking number of titles.
“I’m very excited for the upcoming season,” Guardiola declared during a news conference. “I’m so content right here.”
I obviously need a vacation, just as I do every season, but thereafter I recharge and have the same amount of energy as normal. I also know that competition is coming, so I’ll stay true to who I am and who we are. I’m really absorbed in that.
Reports have suggested that the FA are willing to wait until the end of Guardiola’s contract with Manchester City and appoint him next year.
England Under-21 boss Carsley could be asked to step in as a temporary manager and lead the team until Guardiola is ready to take up the role.
That plan would see Carsley take charge for the upcoming Nations League fixtures and also be at the helm for the start of World Cup qualifying in March.
The bookmakers do not see this as the most likely scenario, with Newcastle boss Howe the favourite to be next England manager, ahead of former Chelsea and Brighton boss Potter.
Speaking about his own future ahead of Newcastle’s pre-season campaign, Howe suggested all was not well at St James’ Park and an imminent parting of the ways could be on the cards.
‘I absolutely want to stay but it has to be right for me and the football club,’ Howe said at Newcastle’s pre-season training camp in Germany last Friday.
‘There’s absolutely no point in me saying I’m happy staying at Newcastle if the dynamic isn’t right. I’m certainly not serving Newcastle well if I do that.
‘So, as long as I am happy, feel supported, feel free to work in the way that I want to work, I have not thought of anything else other than Newcastle. I absolutely love the club. I love the supporters. I love where I am at in my career. There is no better place for me to be.
‘There has been a lot of change at the football club this summer. It has been a very difficult summer for everyone connected with the club. With change comes always a new feeling.