Thomas Tuchel reached an agreement with the Football Association (FA) on Tuesday to become the new England manager, according to Jonathan Northcroft, Paul Joyce, and Matt Lawton of The Times.
The German coach is expected to be unveiled as the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate during a media conference at Wembley on Wednesday.
Tuchel, 51, has been viewed as one of the leading contenders to take the high-profile position since Southgate stepped down this summer after eight years in charge following England’s loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich bench boss will become the first German-born coach of England’s national team. Retired Italian tactician Fabio Capello and the late Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson are the only other foreign managers to have led the side.
Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola was also reportedly in the mix before an agreement with Tuchel was struck. English candidates considered for the position included Graham Potter and Eddie Howe, sources told James Olley of ESPN.
Interim England coach Lee Carsley, who recently ruled himself out of the running for the full-time job, said nationality shouldn’t be a factor when asked whether the next manager had to be English.
“I think it’s important that the best candidate gets the job,” Carsley opined this week. “We’ve seen in the past that we’ve had different nationalities coach the team. The best candidate should get the job. I think we’d be putting ourselves in a corner if we didn’t, and we didn’t open our minds a bit.”
Tuchel, widely regarded as one of the sport’s sharper tactical minds, has been available since leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the 2023-24 season. He led the German club to the Bundesliga title the prior season.
His greatest success at club level came in 2021 when he guided Chelsea to Champions League glory. He was fired the following season amid reported disagreements with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
Tuchel, also linked with the Manchester United job at various points in recent years, has said that he feels more appreciated in England than his native Germany during his managerial career.
“I feel that we are very critical with each other in Germany and especially with players or coaches and not only with me,” he told ESPN earlier this year. “Pretty simple question … I felt more appreciation in England, yes.”
