Jermaine Jenas, a former England player, believes that the Football Association (FA) has reasons to be hopeful about their potential pursuit of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Gareth Southgate’s resignation as England’s manager, after four major tournament campaigns including consecutive European Championship final defeats, has left the FA with the challenging task of finding a new leader for their talented squad.
One of the candidates reportedly on the FA’s radar is Guardiola, and they are even willing to wait until his contract with Manchester City expires in 2025. Guardiola has previously expressed a desire to manage at the international level someday.
Despite his significant achievements with Spain, including 47 caps and captaining the team to Olympic gold in the 1992 Games, it appears unlikely that he will manage the Spanish national team.
Jenas, now 41, believes that England is among the few nations that could potentially attract Guardiola. “Pep’s Catalan heritage makes him the first candidate that comes to my mind,” Jenas told Mirror Football before the recent Formula E Grand Prix. “I wouldn’t have thought he would manage Spain.”
Jenas further added, “Pep will manage internationally one day. It’s just a question of whether it will be Brazil, Portugal, England, or Germany. He will take on an international role at some point.”
Jenas also emphasized that England needs a manager who enjoys playing on the front foot. He mentioned Newcastle’s Eddie Howe and free agent Graham Potter as potential candidates for the role.
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