Decision made on former Birmingham City and Everton man's future with England

The English FA have confirmed the appointment of former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel as their new head coach.

Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021, signed his contract earlier this month, and has been unveiled as the man to lead the Three Lions forward following Gareth Southgate's departure after their EURO 2024 final defeat. He will begin his job in January, with his first camp being in March, which is when World Cup qualifying begins.

Since Southgate's departure, Lee Carsley has been managing England on an interim basis, making the step up from his role as England under-21s boss. Carsley beat Ireland and Finland in September, but this month, they suffered a home defeat to Greece, but managed to beat Finland.

He will stay on for next month’s matches with Greece, and the Republic of Ireland, before Tuchel takes charge. Carsley was successful with England’s under-21s squad, and guided them to a Euros win.

Before he took on the England job, he was being strongly linked with the Ireland job, having made 40 caps for them. It has now been confirmed by the English FA that Carsley will resume his role as the manager of the under-21s, once Tuchel starts.

England’s U21s qualified for EURO 2025 next summer after beating Azerbaijan 7-0 at Ashton Gate in what was a closely contested group with Ukraine. Charlie Cresswell, Callum Doyle, James McAtee, Elliot Anderson, Dane Scarlett, and Omari Hutchinson were all on target as they ran out comfortable winners.

Ben Futcher managed England in Carsley’s absence, and the former Everton midfielder admitted that he was content with how his time in charge of the seniors played out. He stressed the need for a ‘world-class coach’ which has turned out to be Tuchel, whilst he now reverts back to his job, and continues his journey on the coaching ladder.

"I keep saying the same thing. My remit was six games and I'm happy with that," he said to the BBC last week.

"This is a privileged position. Really enjoying it but I didn't enjoy the last two days. I'm not used to losing in an England team, I don't take losing well.

"People are always going to try and put their chips on one side. I'm in the middle. My bosses have made it clear what they need from me.

"This job deserves a world-class coach that has won trophies and I am still on the path to that."