Gareth Southgate wants to make a surprise return to international football and has even submitted an application to become a new national team manager, according to reports.
The 54-year-old, who announced his decision to resign as England manager in July last year following their Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain, has previously claimed he was in no rush to find a coaching role.
"I've got lots of opportunities, I'm very open-minded to what's next that might be in football, that might be outside of football," he told Sky News last year.
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"I'm just going to take some time, refresh, recharge and go from there. I think at the moment people know that I need to get my energy back. I am not going to rush into anything I want to make sure I make good decisions."
Southgate has been linked with numerous positions, including the Manchester United job after Erik ten Hag was sacked in October, and the technical observer role at UEFA.
But several months later and Southgate has expressed his desire to take the Poland job, according to Polish publication Przeglad Sportowy Onet, who claim the former England boss has applied for the vacant position.
However, there is a pretty significant stumbling block, as the report outlines two conditions that need to be met for Southgate to succeed Michal Probierz following his resignation.
"Although Southgate seems like a dream candidate to take over Probierz's legacy on paper, in reality he may be just a temporary revelation," says TVP Sport.
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"The former England coach's salary would be too much for the Polish Football Association to bear. During his time with the Sons of Albion team, he pocketed nearly five million pounds a year."
"For Southgate to succeed Probierz, at least two conditions would have to be met," the report adds.
"First, the Polish Football Association would have to fork out huge funds, and second, the coach himself would have to drop his financial expectations quite significantly. As of today, it seems that neither of these is possible."
Miroslav Klose, the former Bayern Munich and Lazio striker who was born in Poland, has also expressed an interest in the role alongside Nenad Bjelica, Winfried Schaefer and former Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz.
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Last week, Michal Probierz left his post as Poland manager in the wake of a disagreement with the country's record scorer Robert Lewandowski.
The decision came after Probierz named Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zielinski as the new captain.
A statement from the Polish Football Association read: "By the decision of coach Michał Probierz, Piotr Zieliński became the new captain of the Polish national team. The coach personally informed Robert Lewandowski, the entire team and the coaching staff of his decision."
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On the back of Probierz's decision, Lewandowski took to social media to state that he will not play for Poland again until the manager leaves, blaming a "loss of trust".
The striker wrote: "Taking into account the circumstances and a loss of trust in the coach, I have decided to resign from playing for the Poland national team for as long as he remains in charge. I hope I will still have another chance to play again for the best fans in the world."
What has Gareth Southgate said about his future?
As mentioned above, Southgate has previously been coy about his next steps.
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"After eight years serving in one of the highest-profile roles in world football, I'm consciously taking time to reflect on what I lived through and thinking deeply about what comes next," he wrote on LinkedIn in November.
"I'm comfortable with this period of 'exploration' and not having all the answers. I'm following the advice I would give to any young person, without a clear career vision.
"Keep learning, build or explore your network, seek different life experiences and when you decide what's next, there will be no right or wrong, just one path or another."
He added: "This higher purpose kept me on track, gave me structure, made my life more fulfilling and is going to be extremely difficult to replicate. "It's why I'm not limiting my future options to remaining as a football coach."
Topics: Gareth Southgate, England
Jack Kenmare