England and Football Association identify Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola as leading candidate for managerial role | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has firmly emerged as the Football Association’s dream target for the vacant managerial position within the England senior set-up, according to reports.

The stance taken by the English football governing body comes amid ongoing concern from the side of Manchester City supporters as to whether their greatest-ever manager will remain at the club beyond the conclusion of this season.

Guardiola is firmly into the final 12 months of his existing contract, having last extended his terms with the four-time successive Premier League champions midway through their historic Treble-winning season of 2022/23.

However, whilst Manchester City continue to retain hopes of persuading the 53-year-old into an extension beyond the end of this season, there will no doubt be watchful eyes from national teams as they look to the Catalan’s esteemed services.

One of those nations and arguably the most notable at present is the England national team, who are continuing to seek a full-time replacement for Gareth Southgate, who left his role after the European Championships last summer.

According to the information of The Guardian’s David Hytner and Jacob Steinberg, the Football Association have identified Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola as its dream target for the England coaching role, but is not hopeful of securing a deal.

It is explained the FA had Guardiola on its shortlist at the beginning of a process to find a successor to Southgate and contacted him at the start of the season to gauge interest, while representatives of other candidates believe City’s manager is the top choice by far.

For various reasons, including luring the coach into a managerial position immediately after any exit from Manchester City and tempting him into a salary decrease from his Etihad contract, a deal is said to be difficult to close.

Pep Guardiola has so far refused to comment on his future during press conferences and interviews, and insisted during a conversation on an Italian TV talk show over the weekend that a decision had not yet been taken.

That comes despite Guardiola having spent some time in the country of Manchester City’s owners, with the official line on his trip to Abu Dhabi being ‘commercial reasons’, while it is understood that he paid a visit to the club’s chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

There is a belief in various quarters that should Pep Guardiola opt to remain at the Etihad into a tenth season, then a key man in such proceedings will likely be the chairman, who notably once persuaded him to extend during a holiday between the pair in the Maldives in 2021.