Wales boss Chris Coleman has dismissed suggestions that he could become the next England manager.
Coleman’s stock has soared as Wales have marched to the semi-finals of Euro 2016, while England’s embarrassment at losing to Iceland and failing to get beyond the last 16 has left them looking for a managerial successor to Roy Hodgson.
The 46-year-old former Fulham boss signed a new two-year deal on the eve of the tournament to take in Wales’s 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
But his current Wales wage, understood to be around £220,000 per year, is minuscule in comparison to the reported £3.5 million salary that the English FA paid Hodgson towards the end of his four-year England reign.
Chief executive Martin Glenn has said the FA will go for “the best person, not necessarily the best Englishman” for the job, but Coleman – in charge of the first British team to reach the last four of a major tournament in 20 years – laughed off suggestions that he could be a candidate to succeed Hodgson.
“It’s not something I think I would get offered, but I would never rule it in to be honest,” said Coleman.
“Roy Hodgson has lost his job so England will search again, but it’s not something that would ever enter my thinking.
“I’m a Welshman through and through and, at international football, it was only Wales, and it would only ever be Wales.”
As well as managing Fulham and Coventry City, Coleman has also worked abroad in Spain and Greece.
He had ill-fated spells at Real Sociedad and Greek club Larissa, but those experiences have not dissuaded him from managing abroad again sometime in the future.
“I think my next job after Wales, whenever that is, will be abroad,” said Coleman.
“I quite fancy the chance of going abroad again, because I think that’s my best chance of managing in the Champions League.
“When you’re talking about Champions League football in the Premier League, you’re talking about the top clubs – the massive clubs.
“It’s not something I think I’d get linked with, so my best chance of managing Champions League football would be abroad. It’s an ambition of mine.
“But to manage another country? No, I wouldn’t.
“That’s not something I would consider.”
Less than a week after beating Belgium, the world’s second-ranked team, 3-1 in the quarter-final, Wales are preparing once more for the biggest game in the country’s football history.
But Coleman insists there is no pressure on his side ahead of their semi-final date with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal tomorrow.
“The bigger countries have got to get into the quarter-finals, semi-finals, final,” said Coleman.
“But, my interest is Wales and we just take it game by game.”