Micah Richards names the 'elite' manager who should replace Gareth Southgate as England boss

Micah Richards has named his choice for the next England manager and his selection won't come as a surprise to most.

England will head into Euro 2024 as one of the favourites to win the trophy after rising to third in the FIFA rankings – their highest-ever position.

Gareth Southgate is currently preparing for his fourth major tournament since taking charge of the Three Lions.

He guided England to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the final of Euro 2020, where they lost on penalties to Italy, before reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

There are high expectations that England will finally end their long wait for silverware at next summer's Euros in Germany.

Southgate's current contract is due to expire in December 2024 and the England manager has already confirmed he plans to remain in charge after Euro 2024.

But attention has turned to who might replace Southgate when he steps down from the role.

Former Manchester City and England defender Richards knows he wants to take over the national side from Southgate.

"We had this conversation about whether the England manager should be English and I said 'probably not'," Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast.

"As long as you win, it doesn't matter. I would like to see Pep [Guardiola].

"If Pep could come in there with all this talent that we have… I think it is a little bit disrespectful because a lot of people ask me about this as well.

Southgate has been in charge of England for seven years (Image: Getty)

"We've been big fans of Southgate and people say things like 'Pep should be the new manager, Southgate isn't good enough' – that's nonsense, Southgate has been brilliant. Got to a final, got to a semi final.

"But I just think in terms of elite coaches when you think who would you want? I think Pep could just tweak us that little bit to get us over the line."

England and Scotland have safely qualified for Euro 2024 and will find out their group stage opponents when the draw takes place in Hamburg on Saturday.

Topics: England, Euro 2024, Premier League, Football, Gareth Southgate, Pep Guardiola, Manchester City

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

@rory_ocallaghan