Eddie Howe has openly admitted he would like to manage England before he retires. The Three Lions hot seat is currently vacant following Gareth Southgate's resignation, and Howe is reportedly high on the FA's shortlist of replacement candidates.
Whoever steps up will have big shoes to fill after Southgate led England to successive European Championship finals, a World Cup semi-final in Russia and a quarter-final in Qatar.
Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final proved to be Southgate's last act in his eight years in charge of England. And the FA are now scouting out options to take the nation's talented crop of players forward.
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Howe spoke candidly about his ambitions to manage the Three Lions several weeks ago during an interview for the book 'Cheers to 50 Years... On the Sporting Frontline', which is due out next month.
"Would that (managing England) be something I would like to do at some stage of my career? Yes," said the Newcastle United boss. "But I’m quite laid-back about it because I’m a believer that what will be, will be. If it’s meant to happen for me it will — if not, it won’t. I’m a huge fan of Gareth’s, he’s done brilliant things for England."
Howe continued: "I loved pretending to be playing for England in the garden and I was Gary Lineker. I loved Gary Lineker — he was one of my idols. I know I didn’t score goals but I tried and ended up being a defender. I was very passionate and still am about my country and England doing well."
The major obstacle between Howe and England is his current post at Newcastle. The 46-year-old's deal on Tyneside has another three years to run, meaning the FA would have to fork out a hefty compensation package to bring him on board.
Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales has already warned English football's governing body that a swoop for Howe would be met with resistance. "Absolutely (we would fight it)," he said.
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"I don’t want to speak on hypotheticals, so let me just step back and go, going into a new season, for us as a club, Eddie has done a brilliant job.
"For us, he is exactly the right man for the project we are on at Newcastle United and that is why we are committed to a long-term deal with him. That’s why we think he’s the right man for Newcastle. We love him."
