Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper is reportedly one of the names on the Football Association's shortlist to potentially take over as England manager should Gareth Southgate depart next summer.
Southgate, who took over after Sam Allardyce's short-lived tenure in charge in 2016, has a contract which runs out after the end of Euro 2024.
England booked their place at the finals in Germany with a 3-1 win over Italy at Wembley on Tuesday, but Southgate's future plans remain unknown.
Therefore, 90min claims that contingency plans are being put in place by the FA should Southgate call it quits after eight years at the helm.
Ideally, the FA would like to know what Southgate's plans are prior to the tournament in order to make the process of finding a replacement go more smoothly.
The England manager was reportedly toying with the idea of leaving after the Qatar World Cup last year, but he eventually decided to stay on in England's conquest to win major silverware for the first time since 1966.
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The FA are said to be open to giving Southgate a new deal, but want to have plans in place should he decide to call time on his spell in charge of the national team.
Pep Guardiola has been the high-profile name linked with the job over the past few months, while Newcastle's Eddie Howe is also high on the list.
Cooper is a manager who has worked in the England setup before though, and that could boost his chances of being offered the role.
The current Forest boss led England's Under-17s to World Cup glory back in 2017, a side containing current and recent internationals such as Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher.
Following that success at youth level, Cooper was then offered the Swansea City job after leaving the Under-17 setup in 2019.
Under Cooper's management, Swansea reached the Championship playoff final in 2021, but were beaten by Brentford, and he would then depart the club before being appointed Forest boss in the September of the same year.
Cooper would become the first Welshman to ever manage England, and just the third non-Englishman, after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
The FA would need to pay a compensation package to Forest for Cooper's services though, with the manager currently under contract until 2025.
Andrew Delaney
