“Wouldn’t entertain speaking to anybody else when I’m in a job”: England coach Southgate on his future

London [UK], March 23 (ANI): England head coach Gareth Southgate feels that the speculation tying him to a potential job at Manchester United is disrespectful to current manager Erik Ten Hag.

Southgate has been in charge of England since 2016 making him the fourth longest-serving manager in the history of English football. He will be the head coach of England in Euro 2024 which will be his fourth major competition.

Southgate’s tenure is coming to an end as his contract is set to run out at the end of 2024. With the passage of time, the speculations around his future keep growing. He has been recently linked with Manchester United as Ten Hag’s future remains uncertain since the arrival of Ineos.

Southgate ruled out the speculations in the pre-match press conference for their friendly against Brazil on Saturday.

“There are two things from my point of view. One is that I’m the England manager. I’ve got one job: to try to deliver a European Championship. Clearly, before that, two important games this week. If we did something, a contract here [with England] before, everybody would be saying, ‘Why are you signing a contract before a Euros where you’ve got to prove yourself’. I’m certainly not going to speak to anybody else ahead of that. I never have. I’ve been here eight years in the job. I wouldn’t entertain speaking to anybody else when I’m in a job,” Southgate said as quoted by Sky Sports.

“The second thing is Man Utd have a manager. It’s always completely disrespectful when there’s any speculation about a manager that’s in place. I’m president of the LMA (League Managers Association) so I don’t have any time for that sort of thing really. I think I’ve answered this every time I’ve sat with you. My focus is the European Championship,” he added.

England will miss the presence of Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka after he decided to withdraw from the squad due to injury. After Brazil, England will face Belgium on Tuesday at the Wembley Stadium.