Thomas Tuchel reportedly set to become England head coach

LONDON (AP) — Thomas Tuchel is expected to be the next England head coach after widespread reports in the English media said the German was set to be confirmed as Gareth Southgate’s successor.

The Champions League-winning coach has been out of work since leaving Bayern Munich at the end of last season.

The BBC and other British media outlets reported Tuesday that he had agreed take the England job and become its third non-English coach, following Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.

Sky Germany said he had agreed to an 18-month contract and would start in January.

The English Football Association had yet to make an announcement.

“Until it’s announced obviously I can’t really comment, but we have to wait and see,” England captain Harry Kane, who worked under Tuchel at Bayern, told Sky Sports. “Obviously, I know Thomas well from last year. Fantastic coach, fantastic person, so I am sure the guys at the FA will contact me when they know more about it.”

Tuchel is well-known to English fans after leading Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2021 — beating Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the final. He also won the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup with the Premier League club.

A serial winner, Tuchel won two French league titles with Paris Saint-Germain and the German title with Bayern.

Southgate stepped down as England manager after losing the final of this summer’s European Championship. He led the country to back-to-back Euros finals as well as the semifinals of the World Cup in 2018.

England Under-21 coach Lee Carsley replaced Southgate on a temporary basis and had been considered a contender to take the job permanently. Carsley appeared to distance himself from the running last week when saying England deserved a “world class coach.”

Tuchel fits that description having managed some of the biggest teams in Europe.

He also meets the criteria set out by the English Football Association when it laid out the requirements of its next head coach.

When publicly advertising the job in July it said its preferred candidate would have “significant experience of English football, with a strong track record delivering results in the Premier League and/or leading international competitions.”

It said part of the job description was to lead and develop the team to “win a major tournament and be consistently ranked as one of the top teams in the world.”