Gareth Southgate insists his focus is on Euro 2024. Photo: Getty Images/Robin Jones
Gareth Southgate has said potential interest from Manchester United is “totally irrelevant” despite his ambition to win Euro 2024 with England.
The 53-year-old has become a possibility a contender to replace Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford if the Dutchman is sacked after the FA Cup final.
Southgate, however, insisted there had been no “conversations” with those who considered him favorite for the job. “I have something to focus on,” he told ITV News. “This is the most successful tournament with England. Everything else besides this doesn’t matter to me at all.”
Describing his preparations for next month's tournament, Southgate confirmed he is studying German and is “gradually building up a small vocabulary”. He also ruled out the possibility of his players participating in any political demonstrations this time. Players taking the knee have been the talk of previous Euros, and the latest World Cup in Qatar sparked tension after players were warned of sanctions for wearing captain's armbands with the pro-LGBTQ message One Love.
Southgate, who insisted the issue did not “distract me” in Doha, said he could not foresee any political statements from Germany players. “I don't think there's anything specific or that you can expect outside support and, you know, we ended up taking a stance on certain things, but that wasn't our reason when we went to tournaments. “We weren't looking to make a political statement, we've had things happen to us as a team, like racial slurs towards players who shaped what we did and stood for as a team, and we weren't actively looking to do that,” he said. “We're just thinking about really winning the tournament.”
On his progress in learning German, Southgate said: “[It's] intermediate… Well, I have an app that I've been struggling with and I was just conscious that I didn't learn German at school, I have a bit of French and Spanish, so when I travel, I can get by in these countries. But I had no idea about German, so I’m gradually expanding my small vocabulary. I don’t think you know, but finding a metro station will help us a lot at this stage.”
England manager Southgate is among the potential candidates to succeed Ten Hag. Unlike others linked to the job, such as Thomas Tuchel, he is yet to win any silverware as a manager, but that is not expected to count against him.
Telegraph Sport last week detailed that United did not intend to do this. sacked Ten Hag before the FA Cup final, but it now looks increasingly likely that a managerial change will occur after the club's season ends.
However, winning his first trophy this summer – the European Championship Cup – could deny Southgate a chance to run for the ” United if he then decides to stay on as England coach for the 2026 World Cup.
''If I start talking about that, I'm already distracted from what I'm doing.” “Southgate said when asked if he would ever return to manage the club. “So I think the country expects me to focus on England and rightly so. We've had three tournaments where we've given a brilliant performance to the public, I think we know that and I know you have the desire to take it one step further and this is a brilliant opportunity for us to do that. this.''
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