Thomas Tuchel has been officially announced as the new England manager, citing a “personal connection” with the country.

The German has signed a contract that will run until the end of the 2026 World Cup, and he will start work in the role from January 1, 2025 onwards.

He becomes just the third foreign man to coach the England men’s team, following the late Sven-Goran Eriksson from Sweden and Italy’s Fabio Capello.

Tuchel will be assisted by Anthony Barry, who was a member of his backroom staff at Chelsea between 2021 to 2022. Barry the joined him in Germany when, in March 2023, Tuchel became Bayern Munich manager.

The Football Association have confirmed that Tuchel and Barry signed their contracts on October 8 but that the announcement with kept under wraps to “minimise distraction” while England faced Greece and Finland in the Nations League over the last week.

Lee Carsley has been in interim charge of the national team since Gareth Southgate resigned in July following eight years in the role.

Carsley had always expected to be given six matches this Autumn and then return to his previous role as full-time manager of the England Under-21s, and it was confirmed on Wednesday morning that he will return to the England U21s after the seniors’ matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland in November.

Carsley said last week that the role of England manager deserves a “world-class” incumbent, and Tuchel has won silverware at Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, as well as the Champions League with Chelsea.

Thomas Tuchel said: “I am very proud to have been given the honour of leading the England team. I have long felt a personal connection to the game in this country, and it has given me some incredible moments already. To have the chance to represent England is a huge privilege, and the opportunity to work with this special and talented group of players is very exciting.

“Working closely with Anthony as my assistant coach, we will do everything we can to make England successful and the supporters proud. I want to thank the FA, in particular Mark and John, for their trust and I am looking forward to starting our journey together.”

Barry described working with the national team as the “pinnacle” for an English coach.

An FA press release said: “His [Tuchel’s] arrival at the FA concludes an extensive recruitment search which began in July, just after the Three Lions’ run to the UEFA EURO 2024 final.

“The confidential process, which saw several candidates interviewed, was led by FA CEO Mark Bullingham and men’s technical director John McDermott, and saw Tuchel identified as the preferred appointment.”

Bullingham has welcomed the appointment of the 51-year-old as the permanent successor to Southgate.

In a statement, Bellingham said: “We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him. Our recruitment process has been very thorough.

“Before the EUROs we had a contingency plan and outlined exactly the qualities we would be looking for in a coach. Since Gareth resigned, we have worked through the candidate pool, meeting a number of coaches and evaluating them against that criteria. Thomas was very impressive and stood out with his vast expertise and his drive. Anthony is a top English talent and also has international experience with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.

“Fundamentally we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we believe they will do just that. Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026.

“I would like to thank Lee for stepping up and doing everything we asked of him – he is a very talented coach and a major part of our England pathway. He will now focus on retaining the U21 EURO title in the summer. These are exciting times for England fans at senior and MU21 level, and we look forward to welcoming Thomas and Anthony when they begin work in January.”