Stoke City hold talks with England under-21's head coach over managerial vacancy | OneFootball

Stoke City are looking for their fifth new manager since the summer of 2018, and there are already plenty of names that are in the frame for the exciting vacancy.

Despite poor results in recent times, the overhaul of the Potters squad over the summer has left any incoming head coach with some talented players to work with, but who that individual will be remains to be seen.

Former Stoke defender Graham Potter was ruled out early doors despite being a top target, whilst another rumoured candidate Dean Smith has gone Stateside to manager Charlotte FC of the MLS.

John Percy of The Telegraph though has name-dropped three managers as having initial talks with the City hierarchy - though being ex-Potters midfielder John Eustace, Paul Heckingbottom and Mick Beale, who have all been sacked by Birmingham, Sheffield United and Rangers respectively within the last two months.

Blackburn Rovers head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson is also very much admired in the boardroom of the Bet365 Stadium, but now another name has entered the mix.

England under-21 head coach holds talks over Stoke City job

According to BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Aaron Paul, the next coach to have held talks with Stoke is England under-21's head coach Lee Carsley.

The former Premier League midfielder has been in coaching ever since his retirement from playing in 2011, where he immediately became manager of Coventry City's under-18's side.

Carsley was caretaker boss of the Sky Blues first-team side on two separate occasions before moving on to Sheffield United to work under manager David Weir, and in 2014 he moved to Brentford where he became their Development Squad manager - a year later he became interim head coach at Griffin Park for two months before the arrival of Dean Smith.

He also managed Man City's under-18's in the 2016-17 season and headed to Birmingham City thereafter as Head Professional Development Coach and then an assistant to Steve Cotterill, but since 2016 he has also been involved in the Three Lions setup.

Initially appointed as an out of possession coach at youth level between the under-15's and under-21's, Carsley managed the under-20's in 2020 for a year before stepping up to become the boss of the under-21's, and this year he won the European Championship with his young England side.

Carsley could be an ideal fit for Stoke job

Carsley of course has a lack of management experience at club level, with just 22 matches under his belt in a number of caretaker manager stints, but he is the kind of coach that Stoke are yet to really try out.

The 49-year-old has specialised in coaching younger players over the years and Stoke have a number of those within their first-team squad, but it is more the ideas and methods that he could bring to the table that could be more suited to a multi-national squad of different age groups.

The ex-Everton player has been getting the best out of England's young up-and-coming stars at under-21 level and clearly that has not gone unnoticed, and in terms of the names that have already been spoken to as well as Carsley, he may very well be the right man for the job.