Gareth Southgate throws long-term England future into doubt

Gareth Southgate has revealed it has not yet been decided whether he will continue as England manager beyond the 2020 European Championships.

Southgate’s contract is set to end after the tournament, which will see the semi-finals and final played at Wembley in a Pan-Europe competition, and he is yet to sign extended terms, despite the Football Association being keen to reward him with a vastly improved contract.

The FA would like to tie Southgate down contractually until at least the 2022 Qatar World Cup but he is currently uncertain if he will continue beyond the next Euros.

‘I am 100 per cent focused’

Defeat to Spain at Wembley on Saturday night in England’s first ever Nations League match was a reminder of the challenge Southgate faces in pushing on from reaching the semi-finals at the World Cup in Russia.

Southgate said: “First and foremost, I’m 100 per cent focused on this job, nothing else, I am under contract, I have two years, you know that leads to a European Championship, which we have games at Wembley [in] which is going to be a brilliant experience.

That is my pure focus. I know absolutely what comes with the job so anything that suggests there’s a problem with what surrounds the job, and the focus and attention of it, absolutely no problem at all, I want to be in games that matter, I believe I’ve been through an experience that is as pressured as you’re ever going to face at any club or international team in getting through a World Cup, so I’m totally comfortably that, and what’s beyond that is to be decided.

“For me, I’m under contract, I’m enjoying the role, I love the challenge of it and that’s it really. I think in the end it’s not something that’s right to discuss publicly. I think it’s the right thing to focus on the job, and I’m sure, as and when there’s anything to update, we will do that.”