Mauricio Pochettino is interested in succeeding Gareth Southgate as England manager if the Football Association decides to turn to a foreign coach, but the chances of Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp taking the job appear remote.
Pochettino is out of work after leaving Chelsea by mutual consent at the end of last season and would welcome an approach from the FA.
The Argentine is well-known to the FA's technical director John McDermott, who was Tottenham's academy chief while Pochettino was in charge in north London, and understands the culture of the English national team, having produced a string of players for Southgate from his Spurs and Chelsea teams – most recently Cole Palmer.
McDermott and Mark Bullingham, the FA's chief executive, will lead the process to appoint a successor to Southgate, who stepped down following a second consecutive European Championship Final defeat.
Klopp has been mentioned as a possible high-profile candidate but the German is thought to want time out of the game after resigning as Liverpool head coach at the end of the season, and he swiftly rebuffed an approach from the USA last week.
Klopp was paid an estimated £15million-a-year at Anfield, three times Southgate's reported wage, which would likely be another significant stumbling block for the FA.
Guardiola, meanwhile, has expressed an interest in managing in the international game with Brazil in the past but he is under contract at Manchester City until the end of the season and not expected to decide his future for several months.
Again, the FA would struggle to match Guardiola's current salary, believed to be close to £20m-a-season.
Newcastle's Eddie Howe, former Chelsea boss Graham Potter and England Under-21 coach Lee Carlsey are the leading contenders for the role, with Carsley likely to be interviewed, and handed the position on an interim basis if England need a caretaker for September's Nations League matches.
Former England internationals Frank Lampard, who is out of work, and Steven Gerrard, currently in charge of Saudi club Al-Ettifaq, are outsiders, while Brentford's Thomas Frank has been mentioned as another foreign candidate who has a strong understanding of the English game.
Gary Lineker, the former England captain, believes the FA should aim to hire an English coach but says Guardiola and Klopp being interested would be a game-changer.
"I've always thought England should have an English coach," Lineker told The Rest is Football podcast.
"I'd be more than comfortable with Frank [Lampard] in charge, I'd be more than comfortable with Eddie Howe. Graham Potter's been out of the game for a little while now, it didn't happen for him at Chelsea but we know Chelsea was a mess.
"But if you said to me Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola would do it, which I suspect they wouldn't, that's a little bit different.
"If either of those were available, you'd say 'oh wow' but I think it might come down to the English boys."
