According to Matt Law of The Telegraph, Mauricio Pochettino could possibly emerge as a ‘serious candidate’ for the England job, should Southgate depart following the Euros.
Pochettino, who, on Tuesday evening, was announced to be leaving Chelsea with immediate effect by mutual consent has been linked with a variety of jobs since the announcement.
Manchester United and Bayern Munich have been mooted as possible candidates by The Telegraphs Jason Burt, as Law has also reiterated, stating that The Red Devils are likely to be interested in the Argentine should they decide to sack Erik ten Hag following the FA Cup final this Saturday 25 May.
However, it is the former Tottenham manager’s links with England that are perhaps the most surprising. According to Law, Southgate is expected to leave his role as England manager if his side do not claim the Euros this summer, and that the potential vacancy may be of interest to Pochettino if he is still out of a job come the end of the UEFA competition.
In an interview by the The Athletic 2022 Qatar World Cup, the 52-year-old was asked if he is interested in leading England as manager one day, and replied: “Of course, my relationship with England has always been very good. We have a very good relationship with the academies,trying to develop Young players for the national team.”
After departing Chelsea after a tumultuous first season at Stamford Bridge, Pochettino is likely to have a new team sooner rather than later, but his exact destination remains to be seen.
As for Southgate, the former England international announced his 33-man prelimnary squad on Tuesday just hours before Chelsea’s announcment.
The Three Lions will face off in friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland on the third and seventh of June respectively, before Southgate will cut down his squad to 26 players ahead of what could be his final tournament in as national team manager, which will kick off against Serbia on Sunday 16 June at the Veltins-Arena in Germany.