Mauricio Pochettino emerging as leading contender to be next England manager

Former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly emerging as a leading contender to be the next England manager and is open to the job of replacing Gareth Southgate.

Pochettino has long been regarded as one of the top coaches in the game, though he endured a difficult spell at Stamford Bridge last season before the Blues decided to replace him with Enzo Maresca this summer.

Still, one imagines it won’t be long before the Argentine is back in work, with iNews claiming that he’s now looking increasingly like one of the main options to take over from Southgate, who recently stepped down from the job with England.

Southgate did a great job with the Three Lions in his time in charge, leading the country to two Euros finals, as well as the semi-finals of the World Cup, though the challenge now is surely for the team to finally win a trophy.

While England have improved a lot from the under-achievement that came before Southgate, there’s also a sense that this golden generation with world class talents like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham has not quite achieved what it could have.

Pochettino could be ideal to help the country move forward, so it will be interesting to see if the Football Association makes progress on this potential appointment soon.

Lee Carsley is expected to be appointed on an interim basis, according to iNews, while other candidates like Jurgen Klopp and Eddie Howe have ruled themselves out of the job.