By Adegboyega Adeleye

Reports have emerged that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is a strong contender to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager after Euro 2024.

A report from Daily Mail claimed that officials within the FA are open to considering the idea of hiring Guardiola to replace Southgate who faces uncertainty over his future as The Three Lions boss.

FA chiefs are conscious of the uncertainty and taking seriously the possibility that Southgate might leave after next summer’s European Championship in Germany.

The dream appointment of some influential figures at the FA is Pep Guardiola as officials are open to exploring the option.

The Manchester City manager’s deal expires in 2025 — 12 months after Euro 2024 which provides an obstacle to the FA.

The Spaniard has never coached at the international level and if he accepts the offer to lead the Three Lions, he would become the first non-Englishman to coach England for the first time since Fabio Capello in 2008.

Here are five reasons Guardiola is qualified for the England job:

1. Familiarity

This is Guardiola’s seventh year in England since joining City in the 2016-17 campaign. In those seven years, the Spanish gaffer has won everything there is to be won, swooping a whopping 15 titles in sum – five league titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, two FA Community Shield titles, one Champions League and one Super Cup.

He has achieved remarkable success in Europe over the years and would love to lead an international side.

Guardiola’s public support for Catalan independence may create political barriers that stop him from being offered the Spain job.

Having managed Manchester City, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, Guardiola might accept the offer to lead an international side and become the first non-Englishman to coach England for the first time since Fabio Capello in 2008.

Capello resigned in February 2012 following the FA’s decision to remove the captaincy of the national side from John Terry, with Englishman Stuart Pearce taking over the role on a caretaker basis.

Since then English managers Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce, and current manager Gareth Southgate have led the side and Pep Guardiola could be the first non-English manager to lead the Three Lions after many years.

2. Talent Grooming

Pep is the manager of Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, and John Stones at Manchester City. He also coached Raheem Sterling before he joined Chelsea.

As a former footballer, he has been able to inspire a lot of successful footballers including 7-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

Guardiola was a former player who spent the majority of his career with Barcelona.

He played 479 games in 12 seasons for the first team, winning 16 trophies.

Guardiola was a defensive midfielder— who usually played in a deep-lying playmaker’s role.

3. Language Fluency

One of the main reasons the FA and English citizens desire a homegrown manager is the fact that they speak the language fluently.

Pep Guardiola is fit for the job and has adapted well in England as coach of Manchester City.

His English is nearly perfect, and he will have no trouble communicating with his players or with anyone in England.

4. Man Management skills/ tactical expertise

Guardiola is a skilled manager and is widely respected as one of the best managers of all time.

His attacking style of play and domination of ball possession known as ‘Tiki Taka’ has been widely acclaimed as superb and fans have celebrated Pep for his tactical masterclass.

Guardiola is often linked with the successes of the Spanish and German national teams in the last decade, both of whom had many first-team players who were coached by him at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Having just won the treble at City and recorded stellar success in the Premier League in seven years, Pep would be ready for a new challenge in charge of the English national team

5. Proven winner

Pep Guardiola is a proven winner. He has won a plethora of trophies in major European leagues.

He has won a total of 15 trophies for Manchester City since he joined the side in 2016— five league titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, two FA Community Shield titles, one Champions League, and one Super Cup.

As coach of FC Barcelona, Guardiola finished the calendar year 2009 with a record six trophies, the Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, and Club World Cup, becoming the first manager in history to achieve the feat.

The Catalan holds the record for most trophies won with 14 major titles in his four years as FC Barcelona boss.

During his time in charge, Barcelona claimed two Champions League titles, three La Liga championships, two Copas del Rey, three Spanish Super Cups, two European Super Cups, and two World Club Cups.

In 2008/09 the team claimed an unprecedented treble of La Liga, the Champions League, and the Copa del Rey.

As coach of Bayern Munich, Guardiola won the 3 Bundesliga titles, 2 DFB-Pokal titles, 1 UEFA Super Cup, and 1 FIFA Club World Cup title, making it a total of 7 major trophies.

Guardiola is the only manager to win the continental treble twice, the youngest to win the UEFA Champions League, and he also holds the records for the most consecutive league games won in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and the Premier League.

He has also won a plethora of awards including the FIFA World Coach of the Year in 2011, UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year in 2022/23, Premier League Manager of the Season(four times), La Liga Coach of the Year (four times), the League Managers Association (LMA) Manager of the Year(three times) and LMA Hall of Fame.

Pep Guardiola is considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time and leading one of the biggest national teams in the world—The Three Lions of England—would be another remarkable feat in his stellar and trophy-laden career.