England appoint Thomas Tuchel with Anthony Barry confirmed as coach
German Thomas Tuchel has been announced as the new England boss.
The Football Association is expected to hold a press conference where the Champions League-winning former Chelsea boss will be named as Gareth Southgate's permanent successor.
It emerged on Tuesday the FA had been in advanced talks with the 51-year-old, who is out of work after leaving Bayern Munich last summer, and negotiations progressed rapidly.
The FA confirmed the appointment in a statement on Wednesday morning - stating he will be assisted by coach Anthony Barry.
He becomes the third non-Englishman to hold the post full-time after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
The former Bayern Munich boss pointed to his affection for the country, having managed at Chelses.
He said: “I am very proud to have been given the honour of leading the England team. I have long felt a personal connection to the game in this country, and it has given me some incredible moments already.
"To have the chance to represent England is a huge privilege, and the opportunity to work with this special and talented group of players is very exciting.
“Working closely with Anthony as my assistant coach, we will do everything we can to make England successful and the supporters proud.
"I want to thank the FA, in particular Mark and John, for their trust and I am looking forward to starting our journey together.”
Lee Carsley will remain in interim charge of the side for the next round of internationals in November before he returns to his role and Tuchel takes over.
FA CEO Mark Bullingham outlined the recruitment process and said hiring a coach that gave them the best change of winning a tournament was top of the priority list.
He added: "We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him.
"Our recruitment process has been very thorough. Before the Euros we had a contingency plan and outlined exactly the qualities we would be looking for in a coach. Since Gareth resigned, we have worked through the candidate pool, meeting a number of coaches and evaluating them against that criteria.
"Thomas was very impressive and stood out with his vast expertise and his drive. Anthony is a top English talent and also has international experience with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.
“Fundamentally we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we believe they will do just that. Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026.
“I would like to thank Lee for stepping up and doing everything we asked of him – he is a very talented coach and a major part of our England pathway.
"He will now focus on retaining the U21 EURO title in the summer. These are exciting times for England fans at senior and MU21 level, and we look forward to welcoming Thomas and Anthony when they begin work in January.”
