Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have opened up on Thomas Tuchel's impending appointment as England manager.
Over recent months, several candidates - both English and foreign - have been touted to be the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate, who resigned after England's Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain in July.
However, on Tuesday, news broke that Tuchel had become the leading candidate for the role after talks accelerated, before it was revealed last night that the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss had agreed to take the job.
Tuchel is set to become just the third foreign manager to take charge of the England Men's team after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, something that has generated controversy in some quarters.
And, former England strikers Lineker and Shearer have given their thoughts on the issue, with the pair admitting they are slightly uneasy about it, although they both outlined their immense respect for Tuchel.
Thomas Tuchel is set to become the new England manager after he agreed terms with the FA
German coach Tuchel will be just the third foreign coach to lead the England Men's team
Alan Shearer admitted it was a slight concern regarding the pathway for English coaches
'If he is the outstanding candidate yeah (I am comfortable with appointing a German coach),' Shearer said.
'It would be a concern about what is the pathway for English coaches, if they have brought this centre along and want to promote English coaches.
'I am happy in a way because Newcastle won’t be losing their manager and he (Eddie Howe) is an outstanding manager. He would have been the main English candidate for me. For me to know he hasn’t been sounded out is very surprising.'
Lineker added: 'I genuinely believe national team football, particularly with the big nations, the manager should be from the national team. From the country that they are.
'I don’t think it is imperative, I won’t lose sleep over it, but my personal preference would be England have an English coach. I respect Tuchel as a coach, he is really clever.'
Lineker went onto point to the examples of other countries regarding their managerial appointments, although he did highlight that he felt England weren't too far away from producing top class coaches.
He explained: 'If you look around the big nations, Brazil have always had a Brazilian coach although they have been rumoured to have looked at Ancelotti for the next job.
'Argentina, Argentinian coaches, Germany have never had anything but German coaches. Same with Italy, same with Spain.
'Why are England doing it? Because for some reason, English football has not produced a plethora of brilliant coaches. I think that will happen and we are starting to see them come through. I think we were stuck in the past with long ball football. That has changed.
'We now produce technically gifted footballers, but it takes more time in terms of the coaching side I believe. That is why in the interim period we have had to go down the route of foreign coaches.'
Lineker praised Tuchel although he admitted his preference for an English coach to get the job
Sven-Goran Eriksson (L) and Fabio Capello (R) are previous foreign England Men's coaches
Meanwhile, Tuchel is expected to fly in this week to sign a contract worth £5million a year.
The German will start work in January on a deal that runs for 18 months - meaning the 2026 World Cup in North America could be his only tournament in charge.
A press conference to announce his appointment is expected to be held at Wembley today at 1.30pm, which will be attended by FA chief executive Mark Bullingham.