Pep Guardiola ‘had verbal AGREEMENT’ to be England manager before Three Lions turned to Thomas Tuchel

FORMER Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola reportedly had a verbal agreement in place with England before Thomas Tuchel was appointed manager. Guardiola was heavily linked with the England job when Gareth Southgate decided to step down two years ago. Pep Guardiola reportedly had a verbal agreement in place with England Credit: Reuters Guardiola was the FA’s top target before Thomas Tuchel’s appointment Credit: Getty He refused to rule the move out at the time but ultimately decided to renew his contract with City midway through the 2024/25 season. The Athletic now reports that Guardiola actually had a verbal agreement in place with the FA before changing his mind. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! The Spaniard’s change of heart resulted in FA chiefs recruiting Tuchel instead. Tuchel was announced as the new England boss in October 2024 but did not officially start the job until the following January. READ MORE ON THE WORLD CUP At the time, the main goal was to reach the World Cup final this summer. However, the Three Lions crashed out in the last four. England suffered a 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina on Wednesday. And Tuchel faced heavy criticism for his tactical changes and substitutions in the second half. Most read in Sport WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS Tuchel has received criticism following England’s World Cup exit Credit: Getty After going 1-0 up against the reigning world champions, England stepped back and took a more defensive approach. That invited a huge amount of pressure and they were punished by Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez as a result. Some fans and pundits called for Tuchel to be sacked following the defeat. But the manager insists he is fully committed to leading England into Euro 2028 – which is a home tournament. He said: “One hundred per cent, and there’s still enough to improve, still enough to improve and I’m more than happy to do that. “I still think we can impose ourselves more on the ball, I still think we can still show how good football players we are. “I think it’s still in us because I see it in training in every camp and here also in the World Cup and I still feel there is an extra level that we need to conquer and we need to step up on the next level and then to get the big prize.” The Athletic also reports that Tuchel had a secret clause in his contract that could have allowed him to walk away without compensation after the World Cup if England had failed to reach the quarter-finals. As part of the same clause, the FA could have decided to dismiss him. Comment now