Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn believes Arsene Wenger has the “perfect” credentials to become England manager.
The governing body is looking for a new boss to step in for the disgraced Sam Allardyce, who was removed from his position on Tuesday after being embroiled in controversy surrounding third-party ownership of players.
Gareth Southgate has taken over on an interim basis but the FA are seeking a long-term candidate for the dugout.
And Glenn, who stated Premier League experience was “preferable” and being English was a “bonus”, confirmed his interest in Arsenal coach Wenger, stating the Frenchman is the right age to succeed in the role.
“It doesn’t mean they all have to be but it tends to be they’ve had an experience in the game and the average age of a successful manager is probably in their 60s,” he told reporters.
“That’s a fact, it doesn’t have to be an overriding one.”
However, Wenger adopted a different stance on the issue of nationality despite earlier appearing open to considering an offer.
“I know God Save the Queen,” the long-serving Arsenal trainer said. “But I still think that the priority is for an Englishman to manage England.
“Because it looked always a bit bizarre if I manageEngland and play against France. I cannot sing the French national anthem and not the English one. It looks strange.”
Allardyce, meanwhile, now faces the prospect of a suspension from the game for breaching FA regulations, Glenn continued.
“It could range from a fine to a ban,” the FA chief continued. “That’s what the history shows. That’s for a tribunal to decide.”
“We referenced him widely. He’s Sam, he’s loud, he’s brash but he is in the middle of the fairway in terms of behaviour. So I think that the reason I felt let down was, I guess, the surprise factor of it.
“He was seen to be a stalwart of the game. Yes, he’s Sam and he’s loud so we did understand that he’s not going to be the quietest person.
“But you could not have predicted that behaviour. I take full responsibility for the decision to hire him but I don’t take responsibility for his actions
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