Gary Lineker is reportedly wanted by BT Sport to present its football coverage next season, with the speculation coming amid the impartiality row involving him and the BBC.
Match of the Day presenter Gary, 62, sparked debate after comparing the language used to launch a new asylum policy by the UK Government with Germany in the 1930s in a recent tweet.
He wrote: ""There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
"This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s."
The BBC has since announced that Gary would be taking a break from hosting Match of the Day until they have "an agreed and clear position" on his use of social media after the tweet became a big topic of dicussion.
The decision prompted several fellow pundits to boycott the broadcaster's sports show this weekend and a number of celebrities have expressed support for the former footballer.
Amid the controversy, it's been reported that Gary could be poached by BT Sport to become the face of their rebranded football coverage next season.
The broadcaster will be relaunched as TNT Sports later this year, with the new brand understood to be a joint venture with Warner Brothers Discovery.
The Daily Mail reports that Gary - who previously been a presenter for BT Sport - is top of the wishlist for potential future hosts for when TNT Sports launches this summer.
It will reportedly have two seasons of live Premier League rights and four more years of Champions League matches. TNT Sports is said to also be in the market to buy EFL rights.
TNT Sports will replace BT Sport from July 2023.
The BBC announced that Gary would be temporarily stepping back from Match of the Day in a statement released yesterday.
It said: "The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.
"The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we've got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.
"When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none.
"We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can't have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies".
As previously reported, sources claim the decision to take a break from hosting Match of the Day wasn't made by Gary, with him said to have actually not agreed to 'step back' and instead, taken off air due to refusing to apologise for his tweets.
Channel 5 News anchor Dan Walker claimed to have received a message from Gary over the news. He claimed that it read: "They [the BBC] have told me I have to step back".
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