Friday 2 December 2016 12:55, UK
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has refused to say if he was offered the England manager's job before Gareth Southgate's appointment.
The Frenchman had been a front-runner when Roy Hodgson was sacked following a poor Euro 2016 campaign but it was Sam Allardyce who was eventually appointed.
Allardyce lasted just one game before leaving the post following a Daily Telegraph investigation and Southgate has now been named his successor after four games in charge on a temporary basis.
FA chief executive Martin Glenn said Wenger would "fit the criteria perfectly" when asked about the possibility of the Arsenal boss being appointed.
Instead, the FA opted to hand Southgate the reins on a permanent basis, with Wenger remaining tight-lipped over whether or not an offer had come his way.
Asked whether he had been approached for the job, the 67-year-old replied: "Look, I need to keep confidential my conversations with the FA.
"I speak always with the FA, because I am a long time in English football, so when things go on, sometimes they contact me, yes."
Wenger said Southgate's permanent appointment came as no surprise to him, but he did admit in September following Allardyce's dismissal that he could one day be tempted to take charge of the Three Lions.
"I rule nothing out," he said at the time.
"My focus is here [Arsenal] but one day why not? I'm not English, I am French. I feel French as well.
"But of course you do not spend 20 years in a country without identifying or getting used to some values or behaviours of the local culture.
"I still think that [an Englishman should manage England]. The priority is for an Englishman to manage England because it would always be a bit bizarre if I manage England and play against France."
Southgate was appointed on Wednesday and was given a four-year contract having stepped up from him role as manager of the U21s.
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