Gareth Southgate reveals his true feelings on job links after ties to Man Utd - The Mirror

The former England boss has been out of work since leaving the Three Lions despite links to Man Utd.

Former England manager Gareth Southgate has claimed that he is in no rush to return to management - despite links with Manchester United. The 55-year-old has been without a job since leaving the Three Lions last summer.

During his time with England, Southgate led the team to two European championship finals and the semi-final of the World Cup in 2018. His final game in charge was the 2-1 loss against Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

He has since then been linked with a return to management with Man Utd, amid Ruben Amorim's early struggles at the club. Just last month it was claimed that Southgate would make demands of United if he was to take the job at Old Trafford.

Since then the club have had an upturn in form under Amorim. His team had won their last three Premier League games before the weekend's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.

Southgate has now outlined his stance on taking a new managerial job. The former England boss suggesting that it's not something currently in his plans.

Speaking on-air to BBC Breakfast, he said: "I had an amazing time, obviously the great thing with England is that there's this higher purpose. I joined the FA to try and help English football become better, and to help youth development in particular. I somehow stumbled and ended up in the first-team manager's job and we had a pretty good period.

"I'm not desperate to stay in football. I've had 37 years in football which is amazing."

When it was asked if there was a big job available, he responded with: "Well you can never say never because I've just seen Martin O'Neill at his age go to Celtic. But it's not something that's high on my agenda at the moment, I'm enjoying the work around leadership, I'm enjoying my work with young people, very determined to try and make a difference there.

"And so no, I'm very relaxed about not being in football at the moment."

Just a few weeks ago, Southgate also spoke at the Aspire Academy Global Summit, which brings people from all walks of professional football together to share their knowledge. He joined the likes of Rafael Benitez, Carli Lloyd, Wilfried Nancy and Alessandro Nesta.

"The most important thing for developing football is developing coaches," Southgate said at the summit.

"We are all constantly learning. Bringing people together to share experiences and ideas helps us grow, especially as the game continues to evolve."

Despite his success with England, Southgate only has limited experience in club management. His only job in the field saw him take charge of Middlesbrough between mid-2006 to October 2009 - but the squad were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2008/09 season.

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