Thomas Tuchel confirmed as new England manager

England have unveiled Thomas Tuchel as their next permanent manager.

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss held talks with the English FA over the past few days and shook hands on a deal on Tuesday, with officials keen to end the uncertainty surrounding Gareth Southgate's replacement.

Tuchel has signed an 18-month contract and will begin work in January 2025, with his initial deal taking him to the end of the 2026 World Cup.

Tuchel becomes the first German manager in the history of the England national team and the third foreign boss to work with the men's side, following on from Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.

His track record of success with some of Europe's biggest clubs was key to the FA's decision to pursue Tuchel, who has made no secret of his admiration for England's football culture and way of operating.

Tuchel had been of interest to Manchester United, while AC Milan were recently tipped to hold an interest, but England have moved quickly to win the race for his signature.

The boss already has a strong relationship with captain Harry Kane, who he helped lure over to Bayern, while he will already be familiar with the majority of England's top stars from his time at Chelsea.

Speaking about the decision to hire Tuchel, FA CEO Mark Bullingham said: “We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him. Our recruitment process has been very thorough.

"Before the EUROs we had a contingency plan and outlined exactly the qualities we would be looking for in a coach. Since Gareth resigned, we have worked through the candidate pool, meeting a number of coaches and evaluating them against that criteria. Thomas was very impressive and stood out with his vast expertise and his drive. Anthony is a top English talent and also has international experience with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.

"Fundamentally we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we believe they will do just that. Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026.

"I would like to thank Lee for stepping up and doing everything we asked of him – he is a very talented coach and a major part of our England pathway. He will now focus on retaining the U21 EURO title in the summer. These are exciting times for England fans at senior and MU21 level, and we look forward to welcoming Thomas and Anthony when they begin work in January."

Lee Carsley will oversee England's internationals in November before re-taking his post as Under-21 manager.

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