Gareth Southgate close to signing England contract extension
By Sean Walsh
Gareth Southgate is on the verge of signing a two-year contract extension to continue as England manager until the end of Euro 2024.
The 51-year-old will earn around £5m-a-year plus bonuses by signing the new deal and an agreement is expected to be reached soon.
The Telegraph report that Southgate's new deal will make him one of the highest paid managers in the history of the English national team, with only Fabio Capello's £6m-a-year deal worth more.
Southgate was appointed as permanent manager following a short interim spell after Sam Allardyce's dismissal back in late 2016, and has had a hugely successful spell in charge of the Three Lions.
He guided England to their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years at the 2018 tournament in Russia, falling short to Croatia in extra-time.
England then reached only their second-ever major final at the delayed Euro 2020 this summer, before losing to Italy on penalties at Wembley.
A win at home to Albania on Friday night could all but secure England's place at the 2022 World Cup as the Three Lions go in search of their first tournament win in over 56 years.
The match with Albania will see Southgate go level with Sven-Goran Eriksson in terms of games managed for England with 67 apiece - only Sir Bobby Robson (95), Sir Alf Ramsey (113) and Walter Winterbottom (139) will have managed more.
Of permanent managers to have managed more than one game, only Capello (66.7%) has a better win percentage than Southgate's 63.6%.