sport news SAMI MOKBEL: The Football Association should explore Guardiola should Southgate ... trends now

The Football Association hope it isn’t a question that needs answering any time soon but where should they turn if Gareth Southgate leaves after the World Cup?

Here’s an idea: call Pep Guardiola.

Is it realistic? Maybe not. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get and if the FA can somehow persuade Guardiola then it’d be the equivalent of winning the lottery.

Patriots will say ‘he’s not English’. That is true - but is it really important?

He is a generational coach, the best on the market. Surely the FA should strive for that.

Whether the Spaniard would entertain it is probably doubtful at best.

Even if he was up for it, he’d be vastly expensive - he earns £19million a season at Manchester City, a sum way out of the FA’s post-Covid budget.

But unquestionably it’s worth exploring. His contract expires at the end of the season, although City are understandably keen to extend it.

You would think it unlikely Guardiola leaves the Etihad mid-season - but surely he’s worth waiting until the summer for?

If Guardiola isn’t possible, then why not Mauricio Pochettino? Or Thomas Tuchel?

Both are out of work, both know the Premier League and both are cheaper than Guardiola.

Pochettino is as close to captain Harry Kane as any other manager; while Tuchel has won the Champions League. Both are worth considering.

Then there’s Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers, whose stock isn’t as high as it has been but his coaching abilities are undoubted.

Of course, the merits of appointing an Englishman are obvious.

To use a modern day football phrase: it means more. And, of course it does.

In an ideal world the England manager should be English.

But in the search of authenticity the FA are limiting themselves,

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