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England: Gareth Southgate leaves door open to new contract as future talk put on hold

England: Gareth Southgate leaves door open to new contract as future talk put on hold

Gareth Southgate opens door to England contract extension but says a decision on his future will depend on how his side fare at Euro 2024.

Southgate is heading into his fourth major tournament as England manager, with his contract due to expire a few month later in December.

England are one of the favourites to win this summer’s European Championships, having reached a quarter-final, semi-final and final in their three previous tournament showings under Southgate.

Many had expected this summer to be the 53-year-old’s last as Three Lions boss but he has now revealed a decision on his future will only be made after the Euros.

 (James Manning/PA Wire)
(James Manning/PA Wire)

“I have to deliver in the job I’m in, so there’s no point in me thinking any further ahead than that”, Southgate said. “My focus is delivering the best possible European Championship for England.

“Since I came to St George’s, our target has been being in the final four of things, with the ultimate aim of winning.

“If you look at the trajectory of a team, we’re at that point where we’ve done a lot of the climb and the enjoyable bit, and we’re at that last bit, really, of winning and getting over the line. We have to translate that to the next step now.

“We could stink the place out, so there’s no point in speculating about what might happen after the summer.”

The team need the clearest run they can possibly have at this tournament, so my job is to remove pressure where possible.

The England manager explained that his decision to park conversations about his future were made with the team’s best interests in mind.

He said: “We’ve consciously shelved any discussions internally about what might be next, because I think if we had sat and signed a new contract and done that before the tournament, everybody would have said: ‘Well, you did this with [Fabio] Capello and you should be proving yourself before you sign.’

“I think that has the potential to negatively affect the team. The team need the clearest run they can possibly have at this tournament, so my job is to remove pressure where possible. We’ve got to accept some pressure because we’re one of the favourites. But, equally, I don’t want to put anything additional onto the team.

“I have no idea where we’ll be in the middle of July, other than I hope it’s Trafalgar Square and let’s get the party on.”