INEOS chiefs made 11th-hour attempt to sway Thomas Tuchel away from England job

England are expected to confirm the appointment of Thomas Tuchel today after he put pen to paper on a two-year contract yesterday evening. 

The German coach will take charge of the national team from January 2025, per his request to the FA. As such, Lee Carsley will presumably retain his interim role of the Three Lions for their final Nations League group-stage fixtures in November before resuming his position as the Under-21s boss. 

Tuesday’s quickfire developments regarding Tuchel’s decision to succeed Gareth Southgate prompted dismay among the Manchester United faithful, as he was believed to be INEOS’ preferred candidate to take the reins in the event that Erik ten Hag is relieved of his duties – which is expected to be the case if the club’s dismal form continues after the international break.

The Times claims that the ex-Bayern Munich man, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021, was ‘made aware’ in recent weeks that he’d be United’s No.1 candidate to take the potential vacancy.

United’s late Tuchel approach came to no avail

Yet, their pleas ultimately fell on deaf ears, as Tuchel is now poised to become only the third foreign manager of the Three Lions after the late Sven-Goran Eriksson (Swedish) and Fabio Capello (Italian). 

It remains to be seen where INEOS chiefs will turn next. Over the summer, they had held talks with Tuchel, as well as Mauricio Pochettino, now managing the United States national team, Thomas Frank and Sebastian Hoeness, the latter of which rebuffed their advances in favour of staying at Vfb Stuttgart.

Club legend and fan-favourite Ruud van Nistelrooy would be capable of taking on the position temporarily, having managed PSV Eindhoven from July 2022 to May 2023. However, he is unlikely to be viewed as a permanent solution.

Of course, the widespread speculation could well be in vain if Ten Hag is able to perform a drastic turnaround when United return to action, although you’d have to be something of an optimist to anticipate such a feat.